Lessons Lacking and Learned
by kasey8473
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position. Castiel/Ellen Story is complete.
1. Prologue

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: I had to do _**something**_ slightly humorous after 'Abandon All Hope…'

* * *

**Prologue:**

Castiel sat on a bench in the small park across from the motel the Winchesters and Harvelles were staying at and waited. With Lucifer returned to hell and the earth settling from the pains that had been caused upon it, Cas knew someone would be coming for him. He was surprised they'd left him this long. He hadn't been trying to evade them since Lucifer's defeat.

Which of his brethren would come to collect him, he wondered? How painful would his punishment be for those things he'd done?

His stomach did nervous flips inside him and he wished Jimmy was with him. Jimmy had moved on, however, months earlier when Raphael had killed Castiel. Cas missed Jimmy's presence there in the body. He would have been some sort of comfort at this point.

"Hello, Castiel." Gabriel sat beside him.

Cas turned his attention to the motel parking lot. Jo Harvelle was taking bags from Ellen's truck, looking in each one. He squinted. She was just far enough away that he couldn't see her expression very well, only her actions. They'd yet to talk since meeting. She hadn't really seemed to notice him there at all, her attention on Dean. Jo had been so pleased to see Dean that she'd seemed to Cas like a ray of sunshine in human form, beautiful in the force of that emotion.

"You're here to take me away?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Are you ready to go?" When he made no reply, Gabriel turned on the bench to face him. "That silence is telling."

"Is it?" He'd come to like humans, even more so after spending time with them. Or maybe it was just that Dean and Sam were exceptional in many ways?

"We've a few things to discuss."

"What is there to discuss? I rebelled against heaven. I'm to be punished."

Gabriel laughed. "So black and white, Castiel You amuse me." He shook his head. "It's not so simple and you know it. Here's the deal…."

What he had to say interested Cas more than a little.

* * *

Jo glanced across the parking lot at the park across the street. That friend of Dean's was talking to a man. She paused in gathering the bags of food she and Ellen had bought for their rooms. Was he, too, reconnecting with old friends? Or was the guy someone he'd just met?

Probably an old friend, she decided, as he hadn't seemed the type to be comfortable with small talk.

Shouldering one bag, she grabbed the rest in her hands and shut the truck door with her hip and back. This reunion wasn't everything she'd hoped it would be so far. Maybe as the afternoon went on it would be?

Jo thought back to their last meeting in Colorado. Even after the job was completed and War stopped, there'd been no time for conversation and by the time there was, Dean and Sam had both already gone in separate vehicles, leaving Jo feeling like they were unfinished. There were things that should have been said that weren't. She heartily wished they'd all managed to meet up before now, but you couldn't have everything, right?

Right here, right now would have to be the clearing of the air between all of them and if things didn't go the way she hoped, she'd accept it and move on with her life.

* * *

He was going to tell her how he felt. That was the plan. It was time for it. The biggest of the big bad things was back in hell and Dean Winchester could finally tell Jo Harvelle that he wanted to see her on a regular basis. He wanted to see if they could have a future together and was ready to do that even if they all continued hunting. He was going to commit….

Maybe. Or not.

Dean fidgeted in the room he was sharing with Sam, sitting down, getting up, pacing, and generally unable to sit still until Sam shut his laptop and sat back.

"What's going on, Dean?"

"What?" He looked at Sam, shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just…thinking." _Was_ he ready? He must be, for he had no trouble picturing that possible future in his head, yet the thought of conveying to Jo his seriousness to that end was nerve-wracking. What if she said 'no'?

He blinked. Weird. He hadn't worried about that little word in a long time.

"I can see that. What about?"

Dean picked up a magazine, glanced at it and put it back down. "You think Jo…. Never mind."

"You going to talk to her?"

"When the time's right."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You wait for then and you'll never do it. Just…go talk to her. She's got her own room right next door."

Dean stared at the wall, only half considering Sam's advice. "Sure Sammy. I'll talk to her…." He started pacing once more.

Was he really ready to do this?

* * *

Ellen hoped Jo wasn't going to be disappointed in this reunion.

She watched them through dinner -- Dean, Jo, Sam -- and thanked God her adopted family had survived. Bobby wasn't there, but he was alive too and as ornery as ever. Her glance turned to Castiel. Though a part of the group, he seemed apart from it, picking at the food on the plate Dean had plopped down in front of him as though he wasn't certain any of it was fit to eat. She didn't think he'd taken even one bite.

Ellen rested her chin on her hand, smiling a little as Dean returned from the buffet with another helping of fried chicken.

"I thought fried foods and cheeseburgers were going to be the death of you," Sam remarked. He'd been more virtuous in his food choices than the rest of them, the only one to actually visit the buffet tables in the order of a meal: salad, soup, main dish, sides, then dessert. Even his dessert was sensible. A small bowl of vanilla ice cream with sliced strawberries.

"I survived the Apocalypse, I'll survive this buffet," he replied. "What we went through, I deserve this treat."

Across from him, Jo pushed her own food around her plate.

Dean kept trying to get Jo to talk to Castiel, which was annoying her, quite understandably in Ellen's opinion. While it was clear to Ellen that Dean was avoiding Jo because of his emotions, she knew all Jo noticed was that he was hurting her feelings more and more. The expression on his face when Jo wasn't looking about broke Ellen's heart. He was messing things up and didn't even realize it yet.

She wondered if she and Sam should just lock the two in a room together and not let them out until they'd talked things through.

Returning her attention to Castiel, Ellen decided she liked him. He wasn't talkative or obnoxious and that slightly mussed appearance suited him. He was a step up from most hunters she'd ever run into. Dressed better. Much better. A man in a suit could be mighty fine, as he was certainly proving most ably.

Smiling, Ellen decided she was going to enjoy the next few days. They could all use downtime and Ellen was ready to relax.

* * *

Watching the five of them interact, Gabriel noted there was an interesting dynamic between them.

Maybe he'd stick around and have a little fun while he waited for Castiel's decision.


	2. Act I

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.

* * *

**Act I:**

"You're a very beautiful woman, Joanna." Castiel's earnest stare should have been at least somewhat disconcerting, yet Jo was quite comfortable with him watching her so closely. He didn't say the words in a lustful way, only like they were a fact he'd noticed.

"Thanks." What a random compliment, she thought. They were standing together on the far side of the bar. Her mother, Sam, and Dean were on the other side. There were others present in the establishment, but Jo felt like the party going on was only theirs. They'd a right to be celebrating, with Lucifer back in hell and the state of the world creeping back to normal. Or whatever passed for normal. "You can just call me Jo. Only my mom calls me Joanna and then she does it when she's mad at me or wants to make a point."

"Jo." He nodded once. "It wasn't a random compliment I presented to you."

"Excuse me?" Taking a step back, she glanced him over again. Tousled hair, handsome features, suit and raincoat that were wrinkled. The gruff voice of a tough gangster from a bad Forties movie. One of Dean's friends. That was how he'd been introduced. Castiel, Cas for short, a friend of Dean's. At the time she'd merely nodded, hoping to spend some time with Dean. That hope had fallen flat as the afternoon slipped into night.

Dean was avoiding her. He wasn't even being particularly subtle about it either, which both hurt and pissed her off.

"You were watching Dean flirt with that woman over there a moment ago and began feeling insecure about your appearance. You shouldn't be. Many men find you exceedingly attractive."

Blinking several times, she took that in and ventured, "You're a psychic, then?"

"Not at all. I'm an angel."

Said matter-of-factly, with a solemnity that proclaimed he really believed it. Knowing all she knew now, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. At times, the things Jo knew about the world freaked her out more than a little. "Right."

"You don't believe me?"

"Well," Jo took a sip of her beer, then shrugged. "There are demons and I know they're real, so I should believe in angels, too, but Dean personally knowing an angel? Hanging out with one on a regular basis? Bends the mind. I've never thought of Dean as the sort of friend an angel would choose. I mean, he can cuss like a champ, drink like a fish, and find a willing woman in a twenty foot radius wherever he goes. Not exactly attributes I'd think a heavenly being would actively look for."

"Dean knows several angels. He knew Uriel. He knows me, Zachariah, Gabriel, Raphael -- that was only a brief meeting --, and Anna. He got to know Anna very well."

"Anna?" Count on Dean to find one female angel in the bunch, Jo decided with a peevish frown.

"In the backseat of his car."

The backseat? Jo crossed her arms. "Nice. Backseat. Great. That's a mental picture I didn't want."

Castiel tilted his head to one side, lips parting and brows drawing together. "I've made you jealous. My apologies. That wasn't my intention, Jo. While Anna and Dean's relationship did take a physical turn --"

"He screwed an angel, you mean?"

"--it has no bearing on the present."

"Seriously? Dean sweet talked an _angel_ onto her back?" Jo couldn't keep the edge from her voice. He'd go after an angel yet tell Jo it was the wrong place and time? That sure made her feel attractive. The hurt inside her seemed to increase ten-fold.

Alarm flared in his eyes, as though he'd realized he'd said something wrong. "She's in his past now."

"Guys always say that, usually to get in a girl's pants."

He blinked. "That's absurd. No grown man would fit in your pants."

Jo gaped at him.

He stared back. "Dean and Sam both look at me that way sometimes. What did I say?"

Slowly, Jo turned and walked away, shaking her head. Unbelievable.

* * *

Castiel didn't understand what he'd said to make her walk away. He thought back over the conversation and still didn't understand it. Just when he thought he had human interaction down, something like this happened and it was apparent he understood nothing. Dean kept telling him he had to learn to make small talk if he was sticking around.

He wasn't sure he wanted to stay. He did have the choice, which was a bizarre thing all by itself. Why was he given the choice? Gabriel wouldn't say, skirting the issue when Castiel had tried to bring it up.

Choosing ones own punishment was difficult.

Once the decision was made, there was no going back. After his actions during the Apocalypse, the choice of reprimand given to him was generous. More than generous, really. It was absurdly light considering how rebellion was usually punished. He could either return and face what he'd done immediately -- recalled from duty --, or live on earth for the approximation of one average human lifetime with limited powers before returning. Either way, he'd be recalled, yet he'd also be forgiven. That fact had been stressed by Gabriel.

Gabriel the prankster acting in an official capacity after a long time away. Why had Gabriel been chosen to come to him?

He had two days left before he had to tell Gabriel which he'd accepted as his sentence. Two days to wonder, think, second guess, and agonize. Two days to decide if he wanted to spend years more with humans. Mostly powerless. Essentially human the entire time. Why was he even having trouble making the decision? He'd disliked that powerless state he'd been in briefly, yet here he was considering extending it?

Castiel hadn't told Dean or Sam about his choices. It was his decision to make and he didn't want them influencing him either way.

Dean approached, holding out a bottle of beer to him. Cas took it. It didn't matter if he liked the beverage or not. Dean would hand him coffee or beer depending on the time of day no matter what Cas said. "What did you say to her? She looks pissed."

"I have no idea what I said." He shook his head. "We were discussing your angelic acquaintances, I mentioned Anna, and she became upset."

"Mmm." Dean watched Jo a moment. Castiel wanted to know what Dean was thinking, but in yet another one of those personal space talks, of which they'd had several, Dean had told him it wasn't polite to listen in on his thoughts, so he refrained. "Don't mention Anna next time."

"I won't."

"Learn from your mistakes."

"I'm trying. It's a never ending task. Was it mentioning Anna that upset her then?"

"Depends on what you said about Anna."

Castiel ignored Dean's raised brows. He decided he shouldn't mention to Dean what he'd said to Jo on the subject of Anna. "Should I try talking to her again?" He wanted to. He felt comfortable talking to her. Her mother, Ellen, was a different matter. Cas looked at her and couldn't seem to breathe or get any words out at all. His stomach lurched at the thought of spending time with Ellen. Jo though….

Ever since she's entered the bar, she'd seemed intent on keeping herself off alone, apart from their group. She felt isolated, uncertain of her future, and very, very sad. He could relate to all of those. To him, she felt safe.

Turning his head, he looked at her. She'd moved to a video game, playing it by herself, shifting her weight from side to side, hips swaying. He watched that sway, wetting his lips with his tongue. Castiel decided that he could easily like Jo.

"Kind of cute, isn't she," Dean asked, smacking him on the arm.

"Jo Harvelle is quite attractive," Cas confirmed.

"Damn straight." Dean clinked their beer bottles together once, then headed back to Sam and Ellen.

Castiel decided to talk to Jo again. This time, he wouldn't mention Anna.

* * *

From his vantage point where Castiel wouldn't sense or notice him, Gabriel watched him talk to Jo Harvelle. He rolled his eyes. Boy, regular smooth talker _he_ was. With a snap of his fingers, Gabriel made things far more interesting on several levels.

* * *

"You're still concerned with your appearance."

Jo gasped, then coughed as her swallow of beer went down the wrong way. "You again."

"You needn't be concerned. You've a symmetry of features that is pleasing to the eye. Symmetry is beautiful. Your eyes show intelligence, humor, your emotions, and occasionally your insecurities, though those are masked well from human perception."

"Is that so?"

"It is. Your brows are a fine arch, your nose straight, and mouth…" He paused, eyes widening a fraction.

"What about my mouth?" She was curious as to what he was going to say.

"It's a well-shaped mouth." His gaze slipped down her, but not in a sleazy fashion. "You've kept your body in good repair. You're well-proportioned in height, weight, length of limbs, and while you sometimes wish your breasts were bigger, they are a perfect size for your proportions." His attention stalled on her breasts and he swallowed hard, twin spots of color on his cheeks.

I just made an angel blush, she thought. That's kind of cool.

Cas's lips parted, brow furrowing. "You have…exceptional breasts, Jo."

"Quite a pronouncement from a guy who hasn't seen me naked. Are you hitting on me?"

He took a step back. "I've not struck you."

"No, I mean are you coming on to me?"

Confusion flickered in his eyes. "I'm not fully certain what you're inferring."

She arched a brow. "Are you trying to get me into bed, angel boy?" There were drops of sweat on his brow.

"You don't appear tired."

"The horizontal mambo?"

"I don't understand."

He didn't either. There was a distinct lack of comprehension in his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Will you explain it to me," he asked with an interested expression his face, as though he was eager for an explanation of this thing he didn't understand.

Jo sighed. How was it possible to hang out with Dean and _not_ understand these things? She shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because…that's just too weird even for me." Turning, she joined Sam at the table, keeping Cas in view out of the corner of her eye. He was a little weird maybe, but seemed like a nice enough guy. She felt strangely comfortable with him. Safe even. She decided to ask Sam a little about him.

* * *

His intention in starting the second conversation with more comments on her appearance was to put her at ease. After all, he'd seen Dean do that, right? But somewhere along the way, he'd completely messed it up. He could tell that much by the odd look in her eyes. No need to listen in on her thoughts at all. And that mention of her breasts? Might have been fine if he hadn't taken the time to really look.

Look. Observe. Notice, see, perceive, take in, scrutinize, study, examine… and realize he meant the compliment he was giving in such a complete way that it made his body feel different than it had. In seconds, he was sweating, stomach churning in the way it did when he thought about talking to Ellen. Jo said he hadn't seen her naked, yet in his mind was a sudden image of her just that way.

What was happening to him?

All of a sudden he felt…. He _felt_.

Castiel's glance lifted to her mouth as she spoke. He wanted…. What _did_ he want? He wanted to put his hands on her naked flesh, drag them along her body and see if her skin was as soft as he thought it'd be. He wanted her mouth…. His imagery was incomplete and he searched his knowledge, wishing Jimmy were there to drag awake for answers.

Would she explain what she meant? No, she refused, leaving him curious, contemplating her, those images invading his mind, and that physical response he seemed to be having to her. When Dean had taken him to that brothel he'd had similar sensations, but nothing of this magnitude.

What he did know was that these physical sensations weren't all bad. Those thoughts of her naked made him feel quite…good.

Castiel chugged down that beer Dean had handed him, set the empty bottle on the bar, and went in search of Dean for explanations.

* * *

Dean perused the songs listed, finding nary a one he wanted to listen to and several Jo would like. Why not, he decided, dropping change into the slot and picking a few. Turning, he found Cas disregarding his personal space again, his eyes wide with panic and breaths fast. "Cas?"

"I'm ill. It's the only explanation."

"What's wrong?"

"This body has become ill in a strange way and I don't know how to fix it."

"Fix what?" Placing his hands on Castiel's shoulders, Dean nudged him back a few steps. "What are your symptoms?"

"It began as I was talking to Jo. I started sweating for no reason. I felt extremely warm, my heart pounding. Her mouth…. I wanted to…. Have you looked at her mouth, Dean? It's very…. I don't know what word I'm looking for."

"Kissable," he guessed based on what Cas had said so far.

"Is it?"

"I've thought so. Anything else?"

"I looked at her breasts and had the strangest thought that it'd be most pleasurable to touch them. Then I started imagining her naked and…more, which created another rather localized physical response in the groin area."

Dean almost laughed. Almost. Yet somehow he held it in. Cas couldn't even get to the imagining and erection stage with a woman in a whorehouse, but less than ten minutes of conversation with Jo and he was there? There must be something about Jo he just clicked with. Hmmph. Stand in line, pal, he thought. "You're not ill, Cas. You're attracted to her."

"Of course I am. She's an exceptional human, like you."

Now Dean laughed and shook his head. "Um…not like me. You're _sexually_ attracted to her." He could actually see the comprehension dawning.

He glanced at Jo and back at Dean. "I see. This is what you took me to that den of iniquity to experience?"

"Absolutely."

"But I feel ill in my stomach. This is good?" His eyes narrowed a fraction.

"It's part of the process. Palms sweating, stomach churning, imagining her naked, imagining what you want to do with her…. All a part of it. Next thing you know, you'll be getting a hard-on at an inopportune moment and will have to pretend you don't have one when all you really want to do is lay her down on the nearest semi-flat surface and do the horizontal mambo." He knew he certainly felt all of that when around her.

"The horizontal mambo is sex?" More comprehension.

"Sure is."

"She thinks I was attempting to maneuver her into sex."

Did she say it or think it, he wondered. "Jo _said_ that?"

"She did."

Nodding, he placed a hand on Cas's shoulder. "Cas?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"You _do_ want to have sex with Jo." And so would any red-blooded male in his right mind. At least in Dean's opinion.

"I do? Should I?"

"You do want to. That, uh, 'localized physical response in the groin area'? It's called a hard-on. As for sex…only if she says yes." He raised a finger to emphasize his next words. "No means no. Always wear a condom." He doubted Jo would agree if it came down to actual 'yes' or 'no', so he felt fairly safe giving that advice. Besides, what harm was there in letting Cas get some experience flirting with a woman? Jo was a terrific flirt when the mood struck her. It'd be good for him.

"What if I make her mad again?"

"Duck. She has terrific aim. _That_ I know." Dean gestured in Jo's direction. "On the bright side, if she says yes then you're in for a fun night." In his fantasies, Jo was always fun…and sexy, wild…pick an adjective.

"You have no factual basis for that statement, Dean. You've not had sex with her."

He opened his mouth to comment, closed it, and tried again. "True. That's very true, but look at her. How could she be anything but a fun time, huh?"

"I should go talk to her again, then?"

"Definitely." Dean wondered how Jo was going to handle Cas's attraction to her. Hopefully, she'd be gentle letting him down if it came to that, though to be fair, Cas didn't seem to understand rejection like men everywhere did. He rather suspected Cas would simply nod and continue whatever other conversation they'd been having up to that point. He watched and waited for the rejection scene he knew would eventually be coming. Maybe he should have warned Cas about that….

Nah. He had to learn some time.

* * *

"It has come to my attention that I'm sexually attracted to you."

At least this time Jo didn't choke on her beer. She had yet to take another drink. "Did Dean put you up to this?"

"No. However, I was uncertain what my physical symptoms meant until I spoke with him."

"Physical symptoms?" This ought to be good, she thought.

"The sweating, pounding heart, and what Dean refers to as a hard-on."

Automatically, Jo glanced down at his crotch, but his coat was covering the area. "Really?"

"Yes. He says I should have sex with you."

And once more, Dean Winchester left her breathless, but not in a good way. Jo flicked her attention to him. He was watching them. She had the urge to flip him off. "Did he?" No, she decided, she didn't want to flip him off, she wanted to punch him and maybe kick him in the head for good measure.

"He did." Cas's brows rose. "You're angry. Did I make you angry? I didn't wish to --"

"Oh, it's _not_ you."

"You're upset with Dean then?"

Jo set her beer down and crossed her arms. This reunion was definitely not going the way she'd hoped it would. "For a guy who acts like he likes me, Dean can be amazingly infuriating."

"He cares about you very much. He's concerned for your welfare and only wishes your happiness."

"Is that so?" Jo slid up on one stool and patted the one beside her in invitation as 'I Can't Fight This Feeling' began to play on the sound system. How oddly appropriate. She was having the feeling she wanted to strangle Dean and not fight that urge. "So what exactly did Dean say to you, Cas?"

Joining her, he took that stool she'd patted, but turned to face her instead of the bar. "He said that if you say yes I should wear a condom."

"Okay, besides that."

"He confirmed that what I've been feeling is sexual attraction."

"Mmm." Jo nodded, took a long pull off her beer, and swiveled on the stool to face him. "So he gave you his _blessing_ to hook up with me," she placed a hand on his knee, "and have lots of sex?"

"Hook up?"

"Get together," she clarified, with a sweet smile.

"He said you'd be a fun time."

"Did he?" This she could only bite out through a clenched jaw.

His reply was slow in coming and he swallowed several times first. "He did."

Jo's fingers contracted, digging into his leg for several seconds before she forced herself to unclench. "Okay." She smoothed his coat with both hands. "Dean do this often for you?"

"Do what?"

"Try to get you laid?"

"Laid?" He thought about it a moment. "Oh, yes, laid means sex. Yes. We went to an adult establishment for the purpose of sex a few months ago."

"And?" She loosened his tie a bit more, opening the collar of his shirt to expose his skin.

"I became distracted by the personal information I was privy to regarding the young woman I went in the back with and we were encouraged to leave."

"You struck out." Jo drew one finger along the line of his jaw. "Poor baby."

"I didn't have sex, no."

"So instead of taking you to another brothel, he points you in my direction. That's flattering." Her tone would have made any other man cringe, but not him. He seemed oblivious.

"You're still angry." One hand raised, catching hold of the hand she had at his jaw. "Don't be angry, Jo."

"It's just…I know how to pick 'em. You know that? I head for the jerks every time. It's like I've got this internal radar that picks up only jerks."

"Dean is stubborn and opinionated, but I don't believe he's a jerk."

"What about you, Cas? Are you a jerk?"

"I'm an angel. Dean says most angels are dicks, not jerks."

The laugh that came was not a quiet little giggle, but rather a loud, boisterous explosion of honest mirth. When it had faded, Jo reached for her beer and drank the last of it. "You actually seem pretty nice. Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"That's a switch, because most guys lie through their teeth to get girl on her back." Retrieving her hand from his, she sat back. Jo rested her arms on the bar. "Look, Cas, you seem really sweet, but I don't pick up guys in bars even if they're someone Sam would vouch for, so…no hooking up with me. Sorry."

He nodded. "I believe I understand."

She snuck another glance at Dean. He was frowning, still watching them. "But if you're willing, I just had an idea. Come here." She beckoned for him to lean over and put her mouth close to his ear, telling him what to do and say. "Got it?"

Cas nodded. "I'll meet you there."

* * *

What the hell was going on over there? First Jo seemed angry, then she was all happy and relaxed. Weird. Dean straightened as Cas crossed to him.

"I must procure condoms," Cas announced, loud enough that Dean saw Ellen's brows raise, a speculative glint in her eyes.

"She said yes," he blurted out, turning his head to watch Jo leave the bar. Was it his imagination or was that a smirk she directed his way as she stepped out the door?

"She said to bring at least six and we'll have a good time."

"Six," Dean repeated.

"Is that a lot?"

Dean chugged his beer, then slammed the bottle onto the table.

"You're jealous."

"She never said yes to _me_."

"You never asked her."

Beside the point, he thought.

"Therefore," Cas continued, "you've no reason for anger."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean started to turn away, stopped by Cas's hand on his arm. "What," he snapped.

"Do you have six condoms in your room? I want a good time."

"Help yourself." This, he decided, was the suckiest reunion ever.


	3. Act II

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: Thank you so much for the reviews! I apologize for being so bad at replying.

* * *

**Act II**:

"You have no experience."

"No."

"None at all?"

"No."

"Not even a kiss?"

He didn't think the prostitute counted, since _he_ hadn't kissed _her_. Castiel sat on the end of Jo's bed. She wasn't sharing a room with her mother, of which he was glad. He didn't know if he could handle his own curious speculation of which bed Ellen slept in, what she wore to bed, which clothes were hers and….

And now he _was_ thinking about Ellen. Sweat trickled down his temple. Raising one hand, he flicked those drops away. He was having no trouble picturing Ellen naked. None at all. It was similar to that moment in the bar with Jo, where he'd had this _image_ of her right there in his mind.

"My answer hasn't changed since you asked the first time," he told Jo, perhaps a bit more tersely than he'd planned.

"So you're a serious total virgin?"

She came to stand in front of him. Sitting here, his eyes were right on level with her breasts. They were still rather nice breasts, he realized. Firm. Perky. Perky? He had to swallow twice with a throat that felt horribly dry in order to get enough saliva to make his answer come out. "Yes."

"What about your body? The host, I mean. Do I understand that right? This body isn't really yours? It's like possession and you're just in residence?"

"That's correct under normal circumstances, but it's my body now. Jimmy moved on when Raphael killed me. When I was brought back, I came back alone. It's only me in here."

"So was _he_?"

"Was he what?" He was having trouble concentrating now. Surely that wasn't a part of attraction as well? It must be, he decided. It'd explain the way he'd seen some men behaving with women, Dean included.

And why couldn't he hear her thoughts anymore? He could earlier, so why not now?

"I really hope you're not usually this dense, Cas." Jo ran a hand through her long hair, then placed her hands on her hips. "Was he a virgin, too?"

"Jimmy had a wife and daughter."

"Okay. It's just you then."

"Yes."

She nodded, as though he'd fully assuaged her curiosity on the matter. "I can work with that. Stand up."

She made him take off his coat and suit jacket first. Those he could understand. It was what people did. Sam and Dean took off their jackets. He'd seen them. Next were his shoes and socks.

"Why the socks, too," he asked.

"Why not," Jo replied. "You got something against taking off your socks?"

Cas looked at his bare feet, studied them.

"Why are you looking at them like you've never seen them before?"

He tried for nonchalance now that it was too late, wiggling his toes and looking up at her. "Because I haven't."

"Are you telling me you've never looked at your own bare feet?"

"I've never needed to."

"Right. Stand back up."

Apparently unsatisfied with that much, Jo scrutinized him with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. Stretching her hands to him, she tugged his tie away and tossed it over her shoulder, then reached for his belt.

"I'd rather you didn't…" he began, but Jo worked fast, dragging the belt free from the loops and dropping it with his coat and jacket. "Um…okay."

"Isn't it uncomfortable wearing a suit all the time?"

Her hands raised again, slipping another button open on his shirt. Her fingertips grazed bare skin, hands dropping again to tug his shirt loose at the waist. This time the touch of her fingers on his skin was longer, dragging along his waist in a way that increased his discomfort. Cas's next breath was a gasp.

"No." Without the excess clothes, Castiel felt vulnerable. He hadn't anticipated that sensation.

"You have other clothes though, right?"

Casting a glance at his jacket and coat, crumpled on the floor where she'd tossed them, he shook his head. "No. These clothes are serviceable. I've not needed others."

"Huh. There. All relaxed and casual. Sort of." Jo shrugged, gesturing to the bed. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to change clothes." Stretching a hand out, she took the remote for the tv off the dresser and handed it to him. "Find something to watch."

Cas sat as she gathered a few items. "I shouldn't have lied to Dean. It was wrong to do so."

Jo paused in the bathroom doorway. Her mischievous grin made the bottom of his stomach feel like it had just dropped to his knees. "You don't know if it's a lie or not. It's not morning yet. You could still have a good time."

He stared at her, gulped once. After a moment, her grin faded and she frowned.

"Yeah…okay. Relax, Cas. I won't hurt you. Geez."

His heartbeat was a hard thudding in his chest and when he went to turn on the tv, he found his hands were shaking. Perhaps agreeing to help her in her plan had been a bad idea.

* * *

Short pajamas or nightshirt? Jo took one glance at the poor guy and decided on her nightshirt. It covered more of her than the pajamas did, which was a good thing considering he looked like he was about twenty seconds from a heart attack. His eyes were wide, gaze flitting about the room in constant movement. She kept having to tell him to relax.

This was going to be an interesting night, she decided, shutting the bathroom door behind her. Jo couldn't recall ever seeing a guy this nervous and scared of being alone with a woman before. Maybe it was the whole angel thing? Sam had confirmed he was one and seemed certain Castiel could be trusted, so she wasn't really worried about him being here with her.

Jo changed clothes and washed her face, thinking about this hasty plan she'd put together. It was probably stupid, juvenile, and far more immature than she was on a normal day-to-day basis, but she was feeling a bit of all at present. It made her feel better to do something stupid.

Returning to the outer room, Jo found him still sitting on the bed in the same position he'd been in. The tv was on, but he wasn't flipping channels. If possible, he was more tense than he'd been a few minutes earlier. She crossed to him, taking the remote and setting it aside.

"You're going to have to relax."

"I can't," he admitted, both staring at the tv and shooting glances her way every few seconds, as though she was a dangerous animal that could pounce on him any moment.

"Why not?" Kneeling beside him on the bed, Jo studied him. She could feel the heat from his body, see the shaking of his hands, hear him breathing. "Cas," she said. "Calm down. You're going to burst a blood vessel or something and how would I explain that one to Dean?"

"It's difficult to relax or calm when the only thing in my mind are images of you naked. I don't know where they're coming from and it's distracting me."

She smiled at that. "It's normal. Guys deal with that every day, or didn't Dean tell you that?" Raising a hand, she placed it on his back, between his shoulder blades. How could his body be so warm? His body felt feverish to her touch. "Look at me."

Suddenly, he tensed even more, shifting away from her. "I shouldn't be in here alone with you like this. I should return to the bar."

Setting her hands on the bed beside her knees, she leaned towards him a fraction. "You're scared."

"I'm not scared. I can't be. I've fought demons, archangels, and Lucifer himself. This, here, being alone with you, cannot frighten me."

After a moment, his glance returned to her, settling upon her chest. He gulped. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. Just to see what he'd do, Jo edged closer. They continued that dance, the scooting to one side, all the way across the end of the bed to the point where he had to stop or stand up. He stopped, hands gripping the mattress edge.

"Cas." When he looked at her again, Jo held her hands up in a placating gesture. "Take a deep breath and let it out."

He did as she asked, repeating until he seemed calmer.

"Better?"

"Better." He nodded.

"Good. Now, you're attracted to me, I get that. It's very flattering and if I didn't still have a ton of unresolved issues with Dean, I'd be all over you in a second because you are, honestly, adorable." Jo got up and dragged one of the chairs from the table over to sit in. "Here's the thing. You might just need to focus on something unpleasant to keep yourself calm, especially with the next step of my 'mess with Dean's head' plan."

"Unpleasant. I'll try."

This was where her plan lost much of it's focus. Jo was aware of the problem and strove to fix it as she waited for evidence that Dean had gone into the room he and Sam were sharing next door.

* * *

Jo and Castiel. Who would have figured, Sam thought, turning up the volume on his iPod a bit more as he looked down at his crossword puzzle.

Dean wasn't happy about it, sitting on his bed with arms and ankles crossed and a scowl so fierce the baddest of the bad things they'd hunted might have paused a moment to reconsider before attacking. He was behaving as though sitting there listening to the headboard in Jo's room banging against the wall behind him was a punishment he had to endure. The expressions on Dean's face ranged from sorrow to disgust to anger.

Sam paused the song he was half listening to and tugged the earbuds away. Without them, he could hear pleased cries were filtering through the wall like it wasn't even there. Something about them didn't sound quite right, but he didn't feel like pointing that out to Dean. He was probably enjoying Dean's discomfort a little too much, he decided.

Dean's expression grew even more sour.

With a final ragged 'yes', all noises stopped.

A loud snort escaped Dean. "Finally," he commented. "Took them long enough."

Smothering his amusement, Sam replied, "You know you don't have to stay in here, right?"

"No, no, I'm fine now." He picked up the newspaper sitting to one side and pulled a section from it, opening it.

He did seem fine too -- until the headboard started hitting the wall again.

"Oh, come on!" Dean threw the paper. "Really? That was like thirty seconds! No man recovers that fast!"

That time Sam couldn't hold back his laughter, earning an evil glare from Dean that only served to double his amusement. "Well, you did tell him she'd be a good time."

There was a crash, Jo's voice sounding once more. "Damn it! I've never had one of these break before."

Lips tight, Dean got up from the bed and reached for his jacket. "I'm outta here."

* * *

Cas stared at the tv screen, mouth open. This wasn't helping with his…physical problem. He tried to focus on the inconsistencies and not what the people were doing. "Jo?"

"Yeah?"

"This program is incorrect. Our wings aren't generally visible in such a way to the human eye."

"Sure."

"And no angel I know of would use his or her powers to…." He broke off, then pointed a finger at the screen. "That shouldn't be possible with the human body."

"It's possible. If you're flexible enough."

"Oh." He wondered how one got that flexible.

"Cas?"

"Yes, Jo."

"Look away and think of something unpleasant."

He turned to face the door. "I will." But he could still hear what was happening on the screen.

* * *

After listening to Jo and Castiel for a few minutes, Sam had a hunch. As soon as Dean left, he turned on the tv and called up the porn listings. He started laughing, then reached for his phone and dialed Jo's number. She answered on the third ring.

"Jo's demon hunting service. We'll slay 'em and flay 'em. Gimme an address."

"Cute, Jo. Really cute." He read the title he'd found off the listing. "'Hot and Heavenly Bodies'?" It was one of Dean's favorites that was on nearly all the time on one adult channel. The so-called plot revolved around a busty red haired female angel 'protecting' a guy from a dark haired evil temptress. "You paid for porn?"

"No, actually, Aleta Jane Murdock paid for it, I just used her card."

"Nice. What was that crash, since I'm assuming you and Cas aren't actually having sex."

"How do you know we're not? We could be on the floor getting some nice rug burn off this puke green carpet."

"You're not. You're watching horrible porn turned way up in an attempt to make Dean jealous because he's being an ass." Dean wasn't just being an ass, he was being an undecided ass who should have just gone and talked to Jo when they'd arrived. If he had, things would be different right now.

"Damn, you're good. It was the bed. The frame broke."

Sam blinked. "How did you break the bed?"

"Jumping on it." Her voice was matter-of-fact.

He stared at the wall, speechless for the span of about one minute. "Jumping on it, Jo? Why were you jumping on the bed?"

"What? Like you guys have never jumped on a motel bed before?"

"Maybe when I was like six."

"Well I jump because it's fun and usually they're sturdy enough to withstand my weight. Apparently they're not sturdy enough to withstand Cas too, because one jump and it was broken. Good going, angel boy."

Cas's reply was muffled and unintelligible.

"You jump on motel beds for fun," Sam asked, filing that tidbit away for future reference.

"I don't pick up guys in bars and when I am in a bar, it's usually with my _mother_. I get my fun when and how I can, Sam, okay?"

"Noted."

"Besides, I had to make the headboard hit the wall somehow."

"Sure," he agreed. "But, Dean's gone for the night, so you can turn the porn back down now."

"Thanks. It was getting repetitive. How many times in a row can she scream 'yes, yes, yes, ride me hard my well-hung stallion' anyway?" She hung up.

Sam returned to his crossword puzzle.

* * *

"What do you mean? Like it's a light jail term sort of deal?"

Castiel watched Jo paint her toenails. She'd called management, told them the bed broke, but that she didn't mind sleeping on a tilted bed. He wondered why the person she'd talked to hadn't asked any questions or even seemed surprised.

"The consequences are too light. I should be banished from heaven forever."

She capped the bottle. "But…did you ever stop to think that maybe you really were doing the will of heaven? The real will, and not what that skeevy douche Zachariah told you was the will. I mean, Cas, think about it. You used free will, but you used it in a good way. You disobeyed, but the reasons --"

"You sound like Dean."

"I do?"

He nodded, then tried to change the subject. "Your mother --"

"Is a pain, but I love her anyway. What about her?" Jo set the bottle aside and leaned so she could blow breath at her toes. Cas wasn't sure how effective that technique was, but as he'd never watched a woman paint her toenails before, he decided she likely knew what she was doing.

"She keeps looking at me."

Jo glanced at him, pausing in her breath blowing. "And?"

"Why?"

Her grin was amused. "You looked in a mirror lately, Cas? You're kind of cute. She likes cute. And suits. It's weird, that whole suit thing, but hey, not like I can say anything."

"So she thinks I'm cute." The knowledge pleased him and he clasped his hands together in his lap.

"Probably not the word she'd use."

"What…" He cleared his throat, giving in to curiosity. "What word _would_ she use?"

Jo leaned back on her hands, eyes rolling up to stare at the ceiling as she thought about it. "'Jumpable' would make the list. 'Easy on the eyes'." Returning her attention to him, she shrugged. "Hot piece of heavenly ass…."

"Is that good?"

She cocked a brow. "Oh yeah. They all basically imply the same thing: the person saying them finds you attractive." Jo leaned forward again, reaching for the nail polish once more. "Why aren't you doing that mind reading thing anymore? That thing you did in the bar."

Cas turned his gaze to the tv, where a police drama was now playing. Since Dean wasn't in the room next door, Jo had decided they could change the channel. He was grateful for that. "I'm having trouble doing so. I'm uncertain why. The rest of my abilities appear to be intact still."

"That's weird."

"It is. Does…does Ellen use nail polish, too?"

"Sometimes in the summer, but not usually. Why?"

"No reason."

She put another coat of polish on her nails. "No reason, huh? Okay. You do realize Sam's going to ask you about the jumping, right? He's not going to let that go."

"It was an interesting experience," he replied, because it had been interesting until the frame had broken and the only place to focus his attention had been on the tv. No one had ever suggested jumping on a bed before. Jo called it childish, yet strangely satisfying. He'd not had a chance to find out if she was right. Maybe another day?

* * *

Ellen had a knack for meeting people and always had. Owning a bar had contributed to it, but it was something she was genuinely good at. So when Dean knocked on her door, pissed with Jo and the world in general, she suggested they get a poker game together with a few of the people they'd all met earlier. It was a way to distract him from her idiot daughter's juvenile antics.

Jo was being juvenile. More so than she'd been in a long time and definitely in response to Dean's manner. He'd pissed her off with his waiting game and she was retaliating. There could be more to it, yet that was the underlying issue.

Ellen decided she and Sam should have tossed the two into a room like she'd initially thought they should. It would have made things so much simpler and maybe if they had _she'd_ be enjoying some quality alone time with that fine hunk of angel in the suit, Castiel. But they hadn't and he'd been nice enough to go along with Jo's plan. Whatever that plan was. Sam had told her Cas was nice that way.

She knew very well her daughter wasn't getting it on with him. Jo didn't screw around like that. Never had. She was a flirt and while she'd given a good impression of being wild over the years, she wasn't. So whatever was going on in that room, it wasn't sex. Ellen knew it for a fact. Still, she wasn't about to enlighten Dean. That was Jo's job, one Ellen promised herself she'd make Jo do first thing in the morning.


	4. Act III

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.

* * *

**Act III**:

"I'm going to bed," Jo announced, putting away the nail polish.

Castiel nodded. "I'll sit here."

"And do what?"

He watched her smear lotion onto her hands and face. "Wait for morning."

"By watching me sleep? Cas, that's creepy."

"Dean has mentioned that once or twice."

Jo got up from the tilted bed. He thought she had to be very tired to think she could sleep with it like that. In a few steps, she'd reached one of the plastic bags on the floor. "You don't sleep?"

"I'm not required, no."

With a murmur of satisfaction, she knelt and began pulling magazines from one bag. "Then you can do some reading. You know how to read, right?"

"Of course I can read." Why wouldn't he be able to?

"English?"

"And more languages live and dead than any human could master in one lifetime. I'm an angel, Jo. It was always a possibility I'd need to deal with any nationality throughout the centuries."

"A simple 'yes' would have sufficed. How was I supposed to know that? For all I knew, you read angelic script or something." Coming to him, she set a stack of magazines down on the table. "Some light reading to give you a small inkling of insight into women. My mom and I tend to read magazines because they're portable and you just chuck 'em in the trash when you're done with them."

"Dean and Sam do the same." He'd watched Sam take a stack of magazines and put them in a dumpster one day.

"I'd love to read novels and sometimes I'll pick one up, but they're not practical in the long run."

Sam had told him all of that once. "Does Ellen like to read novels?"

Resting a hand on the stack, Jo gave him a curious once-over. "That's twice now you've asked about her," she pointed out, then answered his question. "On occasion, I've seen her reading bodice-ripper historicals."

"Bodice-ripper historicals?"

"Romances that got the term mostly because of how the heroine's clothes usually come off."

"Ripped," he guessed and was rewarded for that correct guess with a smile.

"Got it. Forcefully ripped. She also sometimes reads fantasy novels. We had a Marion Zimmer Bradley in the truck for weeks. That's an author." Jo spread out the magazines. 'Cosmopolitan', 'Complete Woman', 'First', 'All You', and a few more. On three of the covers, the woman pictured was barely dressed.

Cas swallowed and took a deep breath. "You wish me to read these?"

"Yup. Not nearly as creepy as watching me sleep. Start with 'First' and 'All You' and work your way up to 'Complete Woman' and 'Cosmo'."

"Why?"

"You don't want to read the heavy-duty stuff first."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

Which sounded an awful lot like Dean's arguments to Sam that he was right because he was older. "That's not a valid reason," he said, and promptly received the same reply Sam always did when _he_ pointed that out.

"Of course it is."

Under her watchful stare, Castiel picked up 'All You' and opened it.

"Disregard anything contradictory. If you have any questions, I'll answer them in the morning. And if you molest me in my sleep? I will hurt you. Somehow." She got into bed and turned out that light.

Halfway through the magazine, he could tell she was asleep. Setting 'All You' aside, Cas reached for 'Cosmopolitan'.

An hour later, he finished reading an informative article about the female orgasm. "Interesting," he said out loud before flipping the page. Was this how Dean got his knowledge on women? He continued to flip the pages until one flip showed a two page spread of models scantily clad in jewel-toned lingerie. Bright blues and greens, a deep ruby shade, and more, their bare limbs pale. One garment caught his attention. It was blue and slinky, draping along the form of the model.

He wondered how that blue garment would look on Ellen.

An image popped into his mind of her wearing it, reclined on a bed with her hair fanned out on the pillow. In the image, her lips curved in a seductive smile, hand beckoning for him to join her.

Cas closed the magazine, aware of a sudden stirring in his body brought about by that image. The image of Ellen was…rousing. He shifted in the chair.

Maybe Jo was right. He should read the other magazines first.

* * *

His poker game was off and Dean didn't care. All he could think about was Jo with Castiel. He couldn't quite believe she'd actually taken Cas back to her room; that she'd said yes. It didn't make sense to him, but the evidence was there that the two were having a wild time.

Dean looked at his cards, then scowled at the guy next to him. He didn't know who he was, had never seen him before in his life, yet the guy seemed familiar. He had the feeling he _did_ know the guy and hated his guts, but as he'd swear he'd never met him before tonight, the feeling made no sense.

"Woman trouble," the man asked with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

"No," Dean replied, taking his turn. Maybe if he tried to figure that guy out he'd forget about Jo and Cas across the parking lot in the other block of rooms. "We meet before," he asked. "You seem familiar."

The man shrugged. "I've just got one of those faces."

The tone, the way the guy sat, even his facial expressions were familiar. Dean wracked his brain trying to find one explanation for his feeling of intense dislike and came up with nothing. Something in the man's eyes sparked a memory, yet Dean couldn't bring it fully to focus. The eyes were what gave it away, he decided. He'd seen those eyes before, but where?

Shapeshifter maybe? It'd be just like one of those sons-of-bitches to crash their reunion party now that Lucifer was out of the way.

He considered a number of ideas as the evening grew late, though none of them distracted him fully from Jo and Cas.

* * *

Ellen was awake at dawn after only a few hours of sleep. She had too much on her mind to stay asleep.

She thought about Castiel. Sam was a good source of information that she'd utilized completely. He'd told her an awful lot about their angel friend. Sometime today, Ellen decided she was going to maneuver it so that she had some time with Cas. Alone. It shouldn't be too difficult.

Sam was trying to make arrangements to meet up with some woman he'd met a couple years earlier and Dean and Jo needed to have that talk, which would leave Cas by himself. Perfect. With any luck, she could snap him up before lunchtime.

Rolling over in bed, she looked at Dean. He'd pulled the chair close to the bed and was sprawled in it, one leg across the end of the bed, the other stretched out, foot on the floor. Both arms dangled down the sides of the chair. His head was tipped back and mouth open, a gentle snore issuing from his lips. She imagined if Jo could see him now, she'd still think he was hot. Infatuation was blind.

It was infatuation, too. Jo and Dean hadn't spent enough time together to learn if they'd have more between them or not.

Tossing the covers aside, she grabbed some clothes and went to take a shower. Once dressed, Ellen left the room and bought both the local and the state-wide paper, sitting on one park bench to read them while she waited for the time Jo usually woke up. It was a relief to see nothing about natural disasters or violent altercations for once. Since Lucifer had been dispatched back to hell, there'd been a sharp decrease in such happenings.

With a glance at her watch, she folded the papers up and headed for Jo's room. It was Castiel who opened the door, fully dressed in the clothes he'd been wearing the night before. The suit still looked mighty fine on him, though his tie was a little worse for the wear now that she got a good look at it. Ellen entertained a quick naughty thought about what she'd like to do to him, then turned her attention solely onto Jo.

* * *

"Jo?" Cas reached out a hand and shook her shoulder. Thus far, she'd slept through his efforts to wake her. "Your mother is on the way --"

There was a pounding on the door, Ellen's voice sounding. "Joanna Beth, open up this door right now."

Jo sat up with gasp, shoving her hair out of her face and making a spasmodic gesture towards the door. "Open it. Quick. Before she starts yelling. They'll hear her three counties over."

He opened the door, revealing Ellen standing there. Her stare seemed to penetrate right through him the way Dean claimed Cas's own stare could, slipping down him and back up, then flicking to Jo, who'd gotten from the wrecked bed and was yawning. Ellen brushed past him, slamming the door behind her.

"Joanna Beth Harvelle, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Mom --"

"How old are you?"

Jo groaned.

"Old enough to know better. You've teased the boy enough."

"He's being an ass." Jo went into the bathroom, emerging a minute later with a towel wrapped about her.

Her shoulders were bare, Cas immediately looking away from the naked flesh, though he was oddly getting no surge of attraction like he had. With Ellen in the room, his attention fell upon her and how her t-shirt skimmed her breasts. It wasn't a tight shirt, like Jo had worn the day before, but rather a looser one that made him want to smooth the fabric taut and caress her curves with his hands. He wondered what it would feel like to hold her close, her body pressed to his.

Ellen turned, her back now to him. "True, but you might just have to be the adult between the two of you."

Cas's glance slipped down her and he noticed how nicely her jeans clung to her body. She wore them well.

Tugging at his tie, he loosened it even more. Was it warm in the room? He thought it was, but as he appeared to be the only one noticing, it might be just him.

"Men are supposed to eventually mature." Jo sounded on the verge of tears.

He thought about Raphael killing him, which effectively calmed him to the point where he didn't think the temperature was sweltering anymore. Going to the window, he parted the curtain a bare fraction and looked out.

"Well, good luck with that, sweetie. It doesn't happen the way you think it will. A man who makes stupid jokes to ease tension at twenty-one will still make those same jokes at thirty-one. The only difference may be in how outright crude those jokes are. Dean _has_ matured."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Dean is returning to his room," Cas interrupted, letting the curtain go and looking at the two women.

Jo turned to him, "Then _you_ can go get us breakfast." She came to him, telling him their order as she shoved his coat towards him.

He was trying to put it on when she opened the door and gave a gentle push that had him stumbling back onto the sidewalk. She grasped his collar, the pull now making him lean towards her. He had no doubt she was more devious than Dean had ever imagined. Behind her, he saw Ellen arch a brow, the tiniest of amused quirks to her lips. The expression softened her features in an appealing fashion.

Jo's voice was low, but he could tell she was very aware of Dean paused on the sidewalk a few feet away. With a quick glance at Dean, Cas took the money Jo gave him and left to buy the food for Jo and Ellen.

* * *

Dean woke with a crick in his neck and an ache in his lower back from the position he'd slept in in the chair in Ellen's room. She wasn't there. He assumed she'd gone to have breakfast at the buffet place. Or maybe the bakery down the street.

The previous night had sucked so badly he was glad it was over.

However, to add insult to injury, the morning turned out to be even worse. Halfway down the walk to their room, hands full with a box of donuts and a carry out container with two cups of coffee for himself and Sam, the door to Jo's room opened. Castiel backed out, pulling on his coat. It was even more rumpled than it had been. Dean saw Jo's hands smooth it, then grasp his shirt collar and tug.

He avoided stepping close enough to see what he assumed was a kiss.

"Remember: two coffees, two orange juices, and two cinnamon buns." Her voice was sleepy.

"Yes."

Castiel was going to eat? What the hell? How did Jo manage that? Usually he eschewed such normal human behavior. It had to be her feminine wiles, AKA her breasts.

Jo reached back into the room, then pressed money into his hands. "Give them this. It's more than enough. Bring back my change."

"I will."

"Go. I'm hungry."

Cas strode across the parking lot in the direction of the bakery.

Dean cleared his throat and took a couple steps closer.

She looked his way, lips parting. She had a towel wrapped about her that looked ready to fall at the first deep breath she took. Jo whirled back into her room and slammed the door.

Dean stalked past it and went into his own room. Sam was awake, already showered and dressed, putting on his shoes.

"Hey. Where _were_ you all night?"

"Poker game in Ellen's room." He set the box and tray down. "Can you believe her," he asked, jerking a thumb at the wall adjoining Jo's room. "What's wrong with Jo, leaving with a strange guy like that?"

Sam's glance conveyed that he fully understood what was really bothering Dean. "I'll agree that Castiel is strange, but one, he's not a stranger because two, you're the one who introduced them, and three, you also insisted he talk to her all night. If you're upset because Jo didn't wait for you to get around to jumping her, it's your own fault."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I think you've forgotten you never actually propositioned her…ever. Thinking about it doesn't count, Dean."

"She only knew him a couple hours, Sam." Flipping open the donut box, he decided he didn't really want one, grabbing one coffee instead and taking a healthy gulp that burned his mouth. He figured it served him right.

"Jo's a big girl. I think she's fully capable of making her own decisions."

Dean shot a suspicious stare Sam's way. "You been talking to Ellen already this morning? Because that's pretty much what she told me."

Sam laughed.

* * *

Jo leaned against the closed door, looking at her mother. There was annoyance on Ellen's face and a steely glint in her eyes.

"That wasn't very adult-like," Ellen remarked in a low voice, crossing her arms.

"I'm still half-asleep," she grumbled.

"You're awake enough. After breakfast, you get Dean in here and talk to him. I mean it, Jo. Talk. The truth, and not what your hurt feelings want to tell him. So he screwed up. So what? You made it worse with that stunt with Cas."

"He acts like --"

Dean's voice came through the wall, loud and clear.

"See?" Jo raised a brow. "He's making assumptions about my character."

"Well, I wonder why that is?"

"Last night, he told Cas that I'd --"

Ellen shook her head and pointed at the bathroom. "Go take your shower and get dressed. I've had all I can take of you two dancing around each other. You're going to settle this one way or another today."

Jo pulled a change of clothes from her bag. "He hurt me."

"I know. They do that sometimes." Ellen touched her arm. "Jo, do you have any idea how many times your father said something stupid that hurt my feelings? Over and over and half the time he didn't even realize he'd hurt me. You have to talk to Dean. I'm betting you don't know the entire story, like only hearing half a phone conversation."

With her mother's wisdom ringing in her ears, Jo went into the bathroom to take her shower.


	5. Entr’acte

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.

* * *

**Entr'acte**:

"Hello, Castiel."

Gabriel had fallen into step beside him. Cas glanced at him. "What do you want? I still have one day to make my decision."

"I want to know why you're _agonizing_ over this? You'll have maybe eighty years here with limited powers -- tops. With us, that's a drop in the bucket."

"Unless Raphael chooses to kill me again."

"He won't."

"You sound so certain."

"I _am_ certain. He won't bother you. Aren't you enjoying the human experience so far?"

"I've had a taste of limited powers quite recently, in case you've somehow forgotten."

Gabriel snorted. "You'll keep your healing and your travel capabilities for yourself and others so you won't be completely powerless, but that's not what I meant." He gestured towards the motel. "Ellen and Jo Harvelle." His brows raised. "The _women_, Castiel. How are you enjoying women? Succulent, luscious, feisty beauties."

He stopped walking. "What do you mean by that?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Oh, just that I took the liberty of loosing that ridiculous restraint on your libido and revving it up a few notches." He grinned. "Oh, and taking away the ability to hear other's thoughts."

"That was your doing?" He didn't bother with righteous indignation. Gabriel's skin was particularly thick in regards to his pranks.

"What, you think the hormones in that body would do that all at once by themselves? Without my assistance, you'd have missed having naughty thoughts and a boner for Jo Harvelle. She's cute isn't she? Too bad she's all hot for Dean Winchester, but then we angels can't get all the women. It wouldn't be fair to mortal men."

"The evening was --"

"Boring. All you did was talk and watch her sleep. Even the whole 'breaking the bed' thing was boring because you didn't do anything exciting to break it. You should have joined the poker game in Ellen's room. We had a wild good time until she kicked all but Dean out at three."

"You've been watching us all."

Gabriel's expression told him he was naïve to have thought otherwise. "If only Jo Harvelle hadn't matured. She was quite the wild child when she ran off a couple years ago. If she hadn't, you'd be understanding more than a few things right now."

"Return me to how I was." The request would be futile, he knew, but it never hurt to ask.

"Nope. You're going to need that libido, I think." Gabriel leaned over as though telling him a secret. "The mom likes you," he said in a stage whisper.

"Ellen?"

"Is there another mom looking you up and down and wanting to ruin other women for you forever? Of course I mean Ellen. Like mother like daughter. Jo got that wild streak she had from someone and I'm telling you it wasn't her dad. Ellen's a pistol, Castiel."

Castiel thought for a moment on how Ellen had been looking at him, but as such musings made him feel unsettled, he quickly concluding that Gabriel was teasing him. "You're mistaken, Gabriel."

"And you're in for the ride of your life. Don't fight it. If you're going to agonize, you'll need as much information as possible to work with and that woman will give you a lot to think about. But if you ask for my advice --"

"I'm not."

Gabriel laughed, shook a finger at him. "Take the human time. You'll enjoy it more than you think you will."

He was gone before Cas could say anything more. With a frustrated clenching of his teeth, he finished the walk to Jo's room and materialized inside.

* * *

Was it mean to not tell Castiel that he'd already returned his hormone levels to normal; that they'd been normal since dawn?

Gabriel discarded the idea and sat back to watch what would happen when Castiel met up with a determined Ellen Harvelle. He hadn't been lying or manipulating the truth when he'd told Castiel that Ellen liked him and that she wanted to ruin other women for him. She'd had that exact thought when Castiel had answered the door to Jo's room that morning.

How exactly was his waaaay younger brother going to react while still under the impression his hormones were raging? Probably the same way people who thought they were drinking alcohol when they weren't behaved. If Castiel wasn't so distracted by Ellen Harvelle -- and Jo, mostly due to Gabriel's own influence -- he would have noticed that body he was in was in the normal state of 'not knowing how to have fun' and had been since dawn. While he'd loosened up somewhat under Dean Winchester's influence, Castiel still needed help in that regard.

Gabriel thought he himself was a terrific role model for him, if only Castiel would pay attention. But…he knew Castiel wouldn't, so he had to give out this lesson in a roundabout way.

This planned to be amusing…and hopefully a well needed lesson for Castiel on the pleasures of humanity; a lesson he'd been lacking.


	6. Act IV

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.

* * *

**Act IV**:

Ellen was a lot stronger than she looked. Dean didn't protest when she dragged him into Jo's room, he merely went and wasn't surprised to see Jo sitting on the a chair looking just as annoyed as he felt. With a stern glance, Ellen left them by themselves.

He looked about the room, checking the trash can as casually as possible, noting the absence of condom wrappers and used condoms. His attention turned to the broken bed frame. Dean gestured at it. "_That's_ what broke?"

"What did you think broke," Jo snapped, tapping one foot on the floor.

"You have to ask that after Cas came and asked me for six condoms? Six, Jo? That some kind of magic number?"

She rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't have asked you for them if you hadn't been such a dick all day."

"I was being a dick? I don't think so. I was --"

"What do you call telling him to ask me for sex?" Jo stood, coming towards him. "Or telling him I'd be a fun time? What kind of woman do you think I am, Dean?"

Hands on his hips, he attempted to tell her what had happened. "He was attracted to you and I gave him a talk, but that's all it was: talk. He asked me about his physical symptoms, I told him they meant he was attracted to you and wanted to have sex with you, because it's true. He'd be stupid not to want to. Then he asked if he should and again I said he should, but only if you said yes. He'd have a fun time, because…sex is fun. I didn't mean for him to actually _ask_ you for sex." He crossed his arms. "I thought you'd flirt with him a little, let him down easy. I didn't think you'd bring him back here for a long night of --"

She shook her head. "You jackass. I didn't have sex with him. I'm not some bar slut who spreads her legs for every cute guy who gives her an awkward pick-up line, you know. I'm a mature woman --"

"If you two weren't…." He made a gesture with his hands. "What were all those noises? The 'yes, yes, yes ride me hard my --'"

"'Well hung stallion'," she finished for him. "It's called 'Hot and Heavenly Bodies'. Runs on one of the adult channels pretty much twenty-four-seven. You're not familiar with that one? Sam knew it. He figured out what was really going on. _He_ agreed you were being an ass."

He blinked. Dean sat down, pointed at the tv. "You had that on."

"Sure did." Jo crossed her arms. "Nice and loud to be heard through the wall."

Then he jerked his thumb towards the bed, starting to understand what had happened. "What happened to that?"

"I tried to get Cas to jump on the bed and when he did it broke."

The idea of Castiel jumping on a bed made him pause for a minute to consider that absurdity before continuing. "And how did he handle the, uh, porn -- since he was so attracted to you?" He made another gesture with his hand.

"Sweating and nervous, fleeting eye contact, but still pointing out the inconsistencies in the movie. He learned to take nice deep breaths and think about something else. In short, he was a perfect gentleman, of which you are not."

"Thanks," he replied with an edge of sarcasm.

"You're welcome. So…" She sighed. "What you told Cas wasn't in the context I thought it was in? You weren't giving him your permission…."

"No. You seriously think I'd give some other guy a blessing to go after you?"

Jo leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling a moment. "Why is my mom always right about these things? It's so annoying how she does that."

The words were soft, but directed to the air, almost like she was saying it to herself. After a moment, Jo shook her head and looked at him again.

"Now if you can kindly explain why you were _being_ such a dick yesterday I'd really appreciate it."

Dean crossed his arms on the table. He had no idea what he'd done to give her that impression. "What was I doing that made you think that?"

"No girl likes to be ignored, Dean. Or obviously avoided and pushed at another guy. You weren't subtle. You kept trying to get me to talk to Castiel, you flirted with this chick with big tits all night, and when Cas told me what you'd told him," she joined him at the table, copying his pose, "it pissed me off. I mean, you were the one to call _me_ and arrange for all of us to meet. I thought…." She stopped, licked her lips and shook her head, looking away, but not before he saw the pain in her eyes. "You know what, never mind. I…was stupid and let it get to me. I played a juvenile prank --"

"Damn good prank actually," he admitted, then slid one hand across the table until he was nearly touching her arm. "Jo…there's a reason I was avoiding you."

Jo sat back, out of reach unless he got up. "I got that."

"Sam told me to talk to you right away. I should have, I know."

"I jumped to a conclusion I had no facts to support save that phone call."

"Truth is --"

She squeezed her eyes shut as though anticipating something horrible.

Just say it, he told himself. Forge ahead. "I want to try seeing you regularly and I didn't know how to ask you."

Jo gasped in a breath, then held it for several seconds, finally blowing it out in a loud whoosh as her eyes opened, her shoulders slumping. She blinked in a dazed fashion. "I'm sorry, what did you just say? Did you just tell me --"

"I want to spend time with you." There. That wasn't so hard. He shifted in the chair.

"Like…dating?" There was a wary glint in her eyes.

"Yeah. Dating."

"As in more than one? Going places together alone? No Sam, no mom, no anyone?"

"That's what I mean," he confirmed, studying her features for some clue as to how she was going to answer.

Jo leaned forward again, a tiny little smile growing on her lips. "You want to date me, Dean Winchester? Is that what you're saying?"

"Actually, I want to do a lot more to you, _much_ more, but…dating would be a nice normal start I think. Something conventional that I don't usually do and haven't in a really long time."

"Normal is good and…conventional? Wow. Good to stretch yourself."

He nodded. "I'd like to try it out for size, maybe see if normal dating leads to more normality. Who knows? Could be…."

"Normal," she supplied, then touched his hand with hers and nodded. "Okay. I accept the proposition. Let's see where we go."

Not quite as nerve-wracking as he'd thought it'd be. Relief eased the tension in his shoulders.

The tip of her tongue slipped out and touched the side of her mouth for a brief second. "You are _so_ not getting in my pants for at least three dates."

Dean cocked his head to one side. "That a challenge?"

Jo shrugged. "Fact. Might even be longer and when it does? I demand a bed. None of that backseat of the car stuff."

"_That's_ what Cas told you about Anna. Great."

"To be fair, he let it slip before he really understood what he was saying. So…yeah. I want a bed."

"I have no problem with that." He took her hand in his and squeezed. "Three dates, huh? We'll see about that."

Her smile widened, then disappeared. "I'm still pissed with you by the way."

"Yeah, I thought you might be."

"You _were_ being a dick."

He decided to let the argument go. He didn't think it was one he was going to win anyway.

* * *

How did he let himself be coerced into going to the store with Ellen alone? While the ride over had been slow, it had hardly been the awkward trip he'd thought it would be. Ellen hadn't expected conversation. It'd been nice to look at her out of the corner of his eye as she drove. She was confident and while her glances back at him still made him uncomfortable, he was less so than he'd been the day before.

Cas stood in the men's section while Ellen held ties up to him. She'd told him he needed a new tie and so they'd ended up here.

Dean and Jo were at the motel talking out their differences, hopefully to some good conclusion, while Sam was on his phone with a woman named Sarah. Cas had overheard him saying something about a well-deserved vacation.

"What do you think of this one, sweetie?" The tie Ellen held up looked very much like all the rest of the ties she'd shown him. Colored background and some pattern on it.

Cas looked at it. "The blue is nice," he said. He didn't know what she wanted him to say. A quick listen in on her thoughts would clear that up, but due to Gabriel that skill wasn't working so he was stuck with guessing.

"The blue is nice," she repeated. "Sure is, but do you like it?"

"I like my old tie. It's --"

"Serviceable," Ellen finished for him. "I know. How about I just pick one?"

"Okay." He agreed quickly, if only to have the ordeal done with. Her pleased smile made his stomach lurch. Cas followed her through the department, watching her stop and look at clothes, then him. She seemed to be speculating mentally how items would look on him, which made him feel warm and flushed when they stopped for long minutes in the men's underwear section.

All she took to the checkout was the tie.

He kept wondering if Gabriel was right about her.

All morning, from store to store, he wondered. She bought ammunition in the gun store, a birthday card in another store, and chocolates in a third one. As a whole, the shopping experience with her was vastly different than doing so with Dean and Sam. For them, the goal was apparently to get in and out as fast as humanly possible. Ellen, however, took her time in each store, perusing the shelves and racks before taking her purchases to the clerk at the counter.

They mailed the chocolates and card, Ellen saying something about Bobby and payback being a bitch that Cas didn't quite understand.

It was lunchtime before he realized much time had passed at all. Since he had nothing else pressing, Castiel joined her.

Once seated and with a drink in front of her, she said, "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Neither do you," he pointed out.

"No sense in talking unless I've got something to say." She sipped her iced tea and continued to peruse the menu.

"Sensible."

"Comes with age. I wasn't always that way. There was a time when I was something of a wild child."

Gabriel was right, wasn't he? Cas loosened his tie a bit. Still, there were many things that word could mean. In what sense did Ellen mean it?

She tapped his unopened menu with a finger. "Not hungry?"

"I don't eat."

"But you drink. I've seen you. The beers Dean got you last night?" Ellen closed her menu. "You're in a human body, Cas. Doesn't it get hungry?"

Turning his attention from his speculation as to what she meant by 'wild', he considered the question. Hunger wasn't something he'd paid attention to before. He knew he _could_ eat, just like he could drink. After all, Gabriel liked food, especially sweets, and admitted it freely. But did Gabriel feel hunger? Did he himself? "I'm uncertain what hunger feels like. Dean says it's a gnawing sensation in the stomach sometimes accompanied by growling noises. I've not experienced anything similar to that description, so I suppose I've not been hungry."

"Huh." She nodded. "When you drink, do you do it because you're thirsty?"

"I drink liquids at certain times because…." He paused, mouth open as a realization occurred to him. "There at the end, when I was nearly powerless, I did feel thirst. There was an insistent need I had at regular intervals to ingest liquids. That's thirst, correct? Perhaps hunger would have been the next step?"

"Could be. Why do you drink now -- since you have your powers back?"

"Habit," he concluded with a blink. "It's become a habit to consume liquids." Was eating and drinking a habit to Gabriel though? Cas didn't think so. Gabriel claimed to like food.

Ellen tapped the menu again. "Sure you don't want to try something? I'm buying."

"I wouldn't know what to try."

She smiled. "Let me pick something for you."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Honey, in case you haven't noticed, I don't mind takin' charge."

* * *

How was Sam going to break it to Dean that he was taking a two week vacation? It wasn't like he was suggesting they go their separate ways completely. He was only wanting to spend some time with Sarah, since she was free. Two weeks was a good number. It'd be enough time to get to know who she was these days and for her to know him.

He still couldn't believe she was single. Well…divorced after a marriage that had lasted only a few months before she'd discovered her new husband skimming off the books in her father's business. She'd taken her maiden name back and said she was pleased to meet up with him.

Sam set his phone aside as the motel room door opened, Dean walking in. He was by himself, but in a surprisingly good mood considering how Ellen had man-handled him earlier. He gave Sam a thumbs-up.

"Dude, I am in so much trouble with Jo. Seems I've been a bad boy." He began tossing items into a bag. "I might even get a spanking later if she's still feeling sassy."

"That's more information than I needed. I take it she forgave you?"

"I'm buying her dinner tonight. Thought I'd also take her to a movie and maybe for drinks. You think if I brought her back here for a few minutes after each of those, all that could technically count as three separate dates?"

"Why three?"

"Because she said it'll be at least three dates before I can get in her pants."

He laughed and shook his head. "Uh…Dean, I don't think --"

"Yeah, I don't either. It's gonna be a long week." Hoisting the bag he'd just filled, he headed for the door. "Doing laundry with Jo."

"So soon? That's a pretty big step there." Had that been Dean's idea or Jo's?

"If I hurry, she'll let me put my stuff in with hers. Her quarters, Sammy, not mine."

"That's a nice romantic view of it."

"And I'll know ahead of time if she wears t-backs, bikinis or both. None maybe?" He paused, expression indicating he was hoping beyond hope for the last option. "Please, God, let it be none! Later."

As the door closed behind him, Sam opened his laptop and booted it up. Sarah had suggested a few places they could meet and he wanted to know a little about each one before she called back later in the day.

* * *

Castiel liked being around Ellen. Once the stomach churning, the nervous sweating, and the awkward sensation had eased with extended proximity to her, he found he enjoyed her company as much as he liked being near Dean and Sam.

The difference was that he now knew he was sexually attracted to her. Full-on sexual attraction.

And he liked it.

He went to a movie with her, remembering to stay still and not talk during the show, his attention more on her than on the movie. She liked the movie, if the expressions crossing her face during it were any indication. Cas decided he enjoyed sitting there with her and when she took his hand in hers through the last half of the movie, he didn't pull away.

* * *

Jo was slightly familiar with that look on her mother's face; the one that indicated she had some guy in her sights. After Bill Harvelle died, Ellen had always been careful to keep that part of her life private, but Jo knew very well there'd been a man here and there over the years, though Jo hadn't ever met any of them.

The man this time? Jo about laughed.

Castiel. Virgin angel boy himself.

He wouldn't know what hit him. She thought it'd be good for him.

* * *

"Hey Cas. Come here." Dean beckoned with one hand.

Castiel approached him warily. "Yes, Dean?"

"That whole sex with Jo thing? Forget I said any of it."

"You've reconciled with her then?"

Jo was at the soda machines down the sidewalk, slipping money into one.

"Definitely." Dean gestured at her. "She's kind of cute, isn't she?"

Jo bent to retrieve her purchase from the low slot.

Cas admired the curve of her rear in the tight denim, hurrying to stand straight and tall once more when he noticed he was leaning over the same way Dean was to look at her.

Dean glanced askance at him with a curious expression. "Did you just check out her ass?"

With a hard swallow, told him the same thing he'd said the night before. "Jo Harvelle is quite attractive."

He laughed. "You're learning. That's good, Cas, but, uh, she's not attractive to you. You don't think about her." He held up one finger. "Not even a single stray naked thought. As far as you're concerned she's never naked."

"But she is naked to bathe and when changing clothes fully."

"Not for you." He tapped his temple with the finger. "Not up here."

Cas glanced at Jo, then looked at Dean. "She's…never naked. Ever. Not for me."

Dean squeezed his shoulder. "Good observation."

"Who _should_ I think of?" He didn't expect an answer, but Dean considered the question.

"Good question. Ellen maybe?"

"Ellen?"

He nodded. "That's all I got, Cas. Jo or Ellen, and Jo's out of the question. Remind me to give you some magazines to look through later." He sighed. "We've got to get you to meet some women. But not tonight. Tonight, I've got a hot date. Don't wait up." Slapping Cas on the back, he walked down the sidewalk in Jo's direction.

Cas watched Jo turn and greet Dean with a smile, then turned and materialized at the park. He had some things to think about before meeting them all back at the bar.

* * *

With Jo and Dean out to dinner alone and Castiel MIA, dinner was just Sam and Ellen. Not that he minded. It was nice to have a leisured meal with her and catch up without several different conversations going at once. They'd reached the coffee and dessert part of the meal when Ellen glanced up and smiled wide.

"Gabe? Sweetie, what are you doing here?"

Sam looked up at the man approaching their table. To his surprise, the 'Gabe' Ellen greeted so warmly was Gabriel, angel and Trickster.

"Hey Sam. Hi Ellen. Good to see you again."

He watched as Gabriel leaned down, gave her a hug, then slid in next to her on that side of the booth. Gabriel's expression held more than a little amusement.

"Wait, you know each other?" Sam looked from Ellen to Gabriel in surprise.

"Sure do," Ellen replied, stirring her coffee.

"We've been acquainted for years." Gabriel smirked. "Longer than I've known you and Dean, actually."

"Is that so?" Sam was willing to bet Ellen and Jo had no idea who and what Gabriel really was. He shifted in his chair, carefully watching both of them.

"Gabe was a trucker by trade who came into the Roadhouse a few times before it blew, but it wasn't until I started looking for Jo that he kept turning up regularly."

"Like a bad penny," Sam muttered.

Ellen either didn't hear him or chose to ignore his words. "We became acquainted. He helped me find her, called us now and then with some leads."

"Always happy to help." Their server brought him coffee. "I'm here on some personal business. Family matter."

Sam tried hard not to roll his eyes at Gabriel's mention of helping. Gabriel? Help? Happy to do so? Who here was smoking something? Wasn't him, but it sure felt like it. As for the latter…. Was the family matter something to do with Castiel? Must be. Sam had been thinking it strange that Cas was still with them. How much longer would he be if Gabriel was here?

Ellen took a sip of her coffee and opened another sugar packet. "In fact, the last time we met, he gave us the heads-up about a possible Trickster out in Washington state. Even met us there to help."

"A Trickster," Sam repeated. "Imagine that. Don't see too many of those." He poured himself more coffee. "When was that?"

She shrugged. "Last fall, when we were supposed to be on our way to Bobby's to meet you and Dean. Gabe called, said it was urgent, so we went."

"I remember that." He remembered Ellen calling; saying that she and Jo would be a few days late meeting them and to start planning whatever they were cooking up without them; that they'd be there to help within the week. They'd never shown up. Sam and Dean had had to go without them, barely surviving the 'mission' they'd assigned themselves. One crisis had led to the next and they'd played months of phone tag until finally getting through once Lucifer had been returned to hell.

"It turned out it was a Trickster, and one slippery son-of-a-bitch at that."

Gabriel nodded. "He kept us trapped for three months. It was horrible, Sam. You can't imagine what that's like."

"Did he?"

"He did."

"I can imagine quite a lot…_Gabe_."

"But we took care of him, didn't we, Ellen?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but I'm just sorry Jo and I couldn't help you boys when you needed us. I feel real bad about that Sam."

Gabriel covered her hand with his. "None of that, Ellen. It wasn't your fault. You did everything you could to break free from the Trickster and get to the front lines."

"Well, it wasn't enough. Jo and I should've been there."

There was an odd glint in Gabriel's eyes, one that had Sam itching to pull information from him. "But you weren't, so don't beat yourself up over it. Sometimes things like that happen."

She snorted. "They happened over and over. If it wasn't the Trickster, it was other things. Mudslides, earthquakes, flashfloods…an avalanche. It was like an act of God or something." Holding up her hands, she began counting off events. "Engine trouble that turned into a week long stay in some little nowhere town in North Dakota. Jo's appendicitis. Three weeks of giving each other the flu back and forth, I sprained an ankle going after a shapeshifter --"

"You're here now though," Gabriel pointed out. "I'm sure both Sam and his brother know how much you both wanted to be there to help them."

The conversation turned to other things and when Gabriel left the restaurant, Sam followed him, waiting for the opportune moment to grab the troublemaking angel.

"What did you do to them," he demanded, pushing Gabriel against the brick alley wall.

"Aside from downgrade Castiel's powers and mess up his hormone levels for several hours, I've done nothing of consequence." He held his hands straight out at his side in a surrender gesture.

"What did you do?"

Gabriel sighed. "Let it go, Sam. Just let it go. I know you don't like me or trust me, but this curiosity? Not focused on the important thing. You should be wondering what to do with your life from here on out and enjoying your time with them, not speculating on something I may or may not have done to Ellen and Jo Harvelle. Isn't it enough that they're here; that they survived the end-all-be-all of supernatural smack-downs?"

Slowly, Sam released him. "What did you do," he repeated.

"Let's just say things would have been different without my presence in their lives prior to that trip towards Bobby Singer's house."

"How different?"

His stare was cold and hard. "Enjoy your time with them, Sam. Treasure it because I won't step in again. Not for any of you. From here on out to all your dying days, your lives play out without my assistance. This is the very last time I help you all. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, boy. You two wanted allies. Don't complain about the results." The angel disappeared, leaving Sam wondering about those things he'd said and that involvement he claimed. Between Ellen's narrative and Gabriel's end of the conversation, Sam had a suspicion Gabriel had actually done a very good thing for Ellen and Jo.

What would have happened to them that he'd stepped in to prevent? That was exactly what Sam knew he'd done. The evidence pointed to it. Gabriel had manipulated Ellen and Jo's choices so that whatever had been supposed to happen to them hadn't. He'd used that gift of free will in the same manner Dean had. Changing future events.

Leaning against the wall, he watched Dean with Jo in the park across from the motel. They'd taken a blanket and were lying upon it looking at the clouds in the sky. He saw a large fast food bag to one side. Sam suspected their conversation was not the sort one would expect from the chick-flick scene.

But…Dean looked happy.

It had been a long time since Sam had seen him genuinely happy and he couldn't ever recall seeing him this relaxed. His attention shifted to Jo. She was happy and relaxed as well.

After long moments pondering what he'd discovered, Sam decided to take Gabriel's advice and let it go. He wouldn't pursue this. He didn't think he'd like the outcome if he did.

Besides, wasn't it about time they all had happiness in their lives?


	7. Act V

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: The final chapter is taking longer than I'd thought it would to complete, so look for it sometime in the first few days after Christmas. Merry Christmas!

* * *

**Act V**:

Cas watched Dean and Jo dance and tried to ignore the stare Ellen had directed his way since the music had started. Her speculative expression was making him nervous. _She_ made him nervous and he'd spent enough time with her today that he knew she knew it; that she was enjoying it. Here he'd been thinking his nervousness around her was gone and it reared up again. Was that normal?

She was sitting next to him, her chair scooted beside his in the sort of closeness Dean kept telling him was inappropriate, her arm along the back of his chair. If it was inappropriate, then why was Ellen doing it? Very confusing and contradictory information. Her leg pressed against his.

It would be easy to let go of the shot glass and set his hand down on her thigh.

He didn't think she'd mind.

Instead, he raised his shot glass and drank the whiskey she'd just poured. It burned a little going down, but he liked the taste and the warmth it gave.

Ellen leaned over. "You know how to dance?"

He flicked his gaze to the nearly empty dance floor, then back at her. "There doesn't appear to be the need for much skill. I believe I can manage to sway in that manner."

"What's say we dance a few then?"

With a nod, he followed her onto the dance floor. Once there, he could see Sam in the next room shooting pool.

"Hands on my waist," she told him, "and don't step on my feet."

She moved close, slipping her arms up, clasping her hands behind his neck. A glance at Dean and Jo showed them clinging together in an embrace more suited for behind closed doors. Dean had one hand square on Jo's rear. Occasionally, the two would kiss. Cas didn't think that was the sort of dancing Ellen had in mind, so he kept his hands right at her waist where she'd told him to put them. They swayed through one verse of the song. He managed not to step on her feet.

Tipping her head back a little to look him in the eyes, she asked, "You gonna relax any time soon, big boy?"

"I'm relaxed."

Her tongue slipped out, wetting her lips. After a moment, she stepped a fraction closer. "I beg to differ. You're tense in all the wrong places."

Castiel considered that statement a moment. "There's a right place to be tense," he asked.

The humor grew on her face until she chuckled. "Sure is, but I'll admit this isn't the right location for the tense place I have in mind."

"I'm uncertain what that means."

Her hands gave a gentle nudge to the back of his head and he bent so that her lips were close to his ear. Ellen's hands unclasped, her arms raising to hold him in an embrace, her body brushing his. She explained her remark in a way that made his throat dry and when she was done, she didn't step back. He swallowed hard.

Her lips touched his ear, breath hot, tickling. "Put your arms around me."

He did, wrapping one arm about her waist, the other slightly higher, splaying his left hand along her hip, the right by her shoulder blade. Doing so made it easier to keep swaying in time to the music. Cas rubbed his thumb across the fabric of her shirt by her shoulder blade. The fabric was soft and he noticed he could feel the strap of her bra through the thin material.

"How do you like dancing so far?" Her right arm shifted, fingers moving along his shoulder to the nape of his neck, caressing softly, sliding into his hair. The touch caused a slight shiver of sensation to work down his back.

While the movement of her hand didn't seem planned or even conscious, he recalled her statement earlier about taking charge and thought it was probably both planned _and_ conscious. "It's…enjoyable." The room was getting warm, or rather _he_ was getting warm, his shirt beginning to feel a bit damp.

"Give me a better word than that, Cas. As a descriptive word, it's bland." Her left hand joined the right in his hair, thumb sweeping back and forth behind his ear.

"Pleasant?"

She drew back a fraction, cheek brushing his. He caught a whiff of her perfume. "Try again."

Cas considered all possible synonyms before thinking further on this experience. In seconds, he'd hit upon a word he thought she'd appreciate. With a slight smile, he copied her teasing manner, dragging his hand down the line of her spine with deliberate firm slowness and turning his head a fraction so that his mouth was nearly against her ear. "Titillating," he said, adding a bit of breath. Her response was pleasing.

Ellen's back arched, breasts pressing to his chest and arms tightening about his shoulders. "Mmmm. Say that again."

He repeated the word the same way. "Titillating."

"You've got a way with words, Cas."

They finished the dance in silence and when it was over, he released her. She slid her hands down his arms, then stepped back.

Ellen put her hands on her hips, drumming her fingers for a few seconds. "We'd better go somewhere a little less dark and cozy for awhile."

"We should? Why?"

"Because I need to cool down." One brow quirked up.

He studied her a moment, then inquired, "Are you warm?" She didn't look warm. "You don't appear to be flushed or perspiring."

She laughed. "Warm is one way to put it. Come on. Let's get out of here. Dean and Jo don't really need chaperones."

* * *

His day had been one of the best he'd had in a very long time, Dean reflected, holding Jo tight against him while they danced. Doing laundry with her had been an experience to say the least. He was pleased to discover she wore satiny bikini panties and had a few g-strings as well. Her bras were tiny scraps of lace.

All afternoon he'd been imagining her wearing nothing but a g-string and a sultry smile.

He turned his face down into her neck and nibbled there for a moment. She smelled enticingly of vanilla and musk, the sort of scent that brought to mind soft sheets and massage oil. Three dates, huh? Did she really think he had that kind of willpower? He was going to need plenty of alone time if she expected him to wait that long.

Her lips touched his collarbone, feathered along it, then traveled along his neck and jaw to meet his mouth. The kiss was just enough to send his libido sky high and when Jo returned her head to his chest, Dean glanced around them. He did that every so often to see where Ellen was and if she was paying attention to them. This time she wasn't. She'd moved onto the dance floor with Castiel.

"Are they dancing or just standing there talking," Dean murmured in Jo's ear, indicating them.

She raised her head from his chest and looked. "Dancing it looks like."

"Hard to tell. Cas has personal space issues anyway."

"I didn't have any problem with him. Besides, he's got his arms around her now. He looks a little nervous…."

Dean slid one hand up her side, turning her so that side was away from Ellen's view. Not that Ellen was looking at them at all. She appeared to be focused on Cas.

"You really want to feel me up with my mom watching?"

"She's dancing with Cas. She won't notice."

"That's what you think. She's got eyes in the back of her head."

He noticed she didn't protest otherwise though. Just to be sure, he kept an eye on Ellen and Cas. "Is he flirting with her?"

Jo shifted in his arms. "Sure," she told him in a voice that indicated she wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying.

"No, I'm serious, Jo. I think he was flirting with her."

"Good for him."

The song ended, the next one beginning, but when Dean returned his attention to where Ellen and Cas had been, they weren't there anymore. Nor were they back at the table. A longer look at the table showed that Cas's coat was now gone.

He would have wondered where they went if Jo hadn't started kissing him again. Dean decided it didn't matter. What mattered right then was that he had Jo right where he wanted her.

Well…almost. The next two dates were going to be the longest of his entire life.

* * *

Ellen took Cas to an all night restaurant, where they had even more coffee. Coffee appeared to be her non-alcoholic drink of choice. She was a skilled, yet subtle interrogator, asking him about various matters she was curious on. He could see where Jo had gotten her technique. She'd obviously honed her skills by watching Ellen.

"That suit is the same one you've had on since you took Jimmy as a host?"

"Yes." He took a drink of the coffee, rolling the liquid about his mouth in an attempt to truly taste it. The tactic had worked with the food earlier and did again. The coffee was hot, with a bitter taste that Ellen claimed was 'nutty'. As he had no personal descriptive words like that because he'd not eaten before today, he took her word for it.

"You've no changes of clothes."

"No."

"You don't do laundry."

"I've no need. The clothes remain fresh and if I'm injured in a way that leaves marks on them, the marks are fixed as my healing powers fix my body."

Taking one of his hands in hers, she traced the veins on the back with one fingertip. "Jimmy's body."

"Technically only mine now since he moved on."

Her sigh was wistful. "What I wouldn't give to never have to do laundry ever again."

"Dean laments laundry as well. It's an on-going complaint."

"I'm sure it is." Ellen released his hand and crossed her arms on the table, gaze touching his features in an intense stare. "So tell me about this deal you mentioned earlier. The one with your brother." The switch from light-hearted to heavier conversational fare was so sudden that he blinked.

For the second time in as many days, he told someone other than Dean or Sam about his punishment choices. Ellen listened and when he was through, she finished her coffee before saying anything. All playfulness was gone from her manner now. Indeed, her stare began to take on that of a person studying a puzzle they greatly wished to figure out.

"The deadline is tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Any certain time?"

"He'll be waiting in the park all day. I must give my decision sometime between dawn and dusk."

She glanced at her watch. "At the earliest, I have about six hours to convince you to stay."

Lowering his gaze from hers, he opened a packet of sugar and dumped the crystals into the cup, stirring with a spoon to mix the two. "You wish me to stay?"

Ellen laughed, a throaty sound that reminded him of the purr of a large cat. She didn't answer the question. "You were this close," she held thumb and forefinger close in illustration, "to being human when Lucifer was sent away. What didn't you like about being human?"

"Everything. The physical encumbrances --"

"Explain."

"This body has a weight to it when my powers are nearly gone that isn't there when I have them. It's like being trapped in a small room, unable to physically leave. Powerless, I'm unable to leave this body save through bodily death. Movement is frustrating because every one is by necessity excruciatingly slow. Humans aren't fast creatures, Ellen. You need vehicles to enable quickness, whereas, in the space of a blink, I can be halfway across the world."

Understanding was in her eyes. "I see. What else didn't you like?"

"Being powerless. Feeling as though I'd been abandoned by my brothers and sisters."

"Mmm. Was there anything at all you _did_ like?"

"No."

Ellen sat back and poured more coffee. "Then I'd say you've decided already."

"I have?"

"Yup. You absolutely hated being human, Cas." She doctored her coffee with sugar, stirred it.

"Yes."

"So be there at dawn and head for home."

"I should."

When she returned her attention to him, he saw a shrewd gleam in her eyes. "Why didn't you go with your brother right then and there? Why are you still here even having this conversation with me?"

He stared at her. She was right. Why was he still here? Why was this decision so hard to make?

"You're lying to yourself, sweetie. There _was_ something you liked about being human; something you liked enough to make you think about your options. What was it?"

Cas opened his mouth to answer and didn't know what to say.

* * *

It was late when Dean left Jo's room. She was true to her word, not letting him anywhere near her pants. Her shirt though, had been another matter. Mmm…Jo's naked breasts….

He smiled at the remembrance, took two steps towards his own room, and heard a voice that had him back at Jo's door, pounding on it.

"Hello, Dean."

Gabriel.

Sudden fear that this was all an imaginary construct of that angel filled him and he refused to acknowledge Gabriel until he saw Jo again.

She opened the door to his knock, amusement etched upon her features. "No, talking in my doorway less than a minute after you left doesn't count as a separate date. We discussed this, Dean." Her amusement slipped away as she looked up at him, concern taking it's place. "Dean, what's wrong?" Her hands stretched out, warm on his skin, gently caressing.

He still didn't know if she was real. Gabriel was very good at creating illusions that felt real and engaged all senses.

"Tell me you're real."

She frowned, thumbs stroking along his cheeks. "Of course I'm real."

The fear wouldn't ease.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

He dragged her against him, holding her so tightly that he heard her gasp.

"Dean, I can't breathe. Let go, okay?" Jo patted his back, rubbed in soothing strokes. "Sweetheart, I just heard my ribs cracking. Ease up."

Gabriel's voice sounded once more. "This is purely a social shout-out, Dean. I'm only here on family business."

Jo squirmed in his arms until she could see around him. "Gabe? Hey, how've you been?"

"Busy, Jo. Very busy. You've no _idea_ how busy."

"You know him?" Dean rested his cheek against her hair.

"For years. He used to come by the Roadhouse. Why?"

Oh, this just kept getting better and better. "I…just didn't know you knew him."

"Circles we run in, it's kind of inevitable we'd know some of the same people." She leaned back a little. "As much as I'm enjoying this togetherness thing we've got going, I'd really like to go in and go to bed now. I'm kind of tired."

Reluctantly, he released her, kissing her a final time. Once her door was closed, he scowled at Gabriel. "You're not taking her away from me."

"Taking her away is the _last_ thing on my mind. I told you: I'm here on family business. I only stopped you to say 'hello'."

"I don't believe you."

"All of this," he spread his arms, gestured with his hands, "is one-hundred percent real."

"And you're here why exactly?"

"I'm here for Castiel. Surely you didn't think heaven had forgotten him?" He put his hands into his pockets.

Dean snorted. "We should be so lucky."

"He was given two possible reprimands to decide between." Gabriel smiled. "He's already chosen his consequences. He just doesn't know it yet."

"You're making him choose his own punishment? How enlightened."

The angel's expression didn't change. "Enjoy your life, Dean. You won't see me again."

"That a promise?"

"Trust me." His smile slipped into a smirk. "I'm one of the good guys, remember?"

"Just so you know, that's not a statement that makes me feel better."

And then Dean was alone on the sidewalk.

* * *

Cas sat beside Ellen on the bed, knees drawn up and arms resting on them. She was getting tired. He could see it even though she was trying to hide it. Every so often, she'd attempt to smother a yawn, her body trembling with the effort.

She hadn't made him take off his socks like Jo had, only his coat, jacket, and shoes. Nor did she un-tuck his shirt or remove his tie.

"You're emotionally attached to Dean and Sam both."

Their shoulders and arms touched. She'd laid out so many reasons for him to take the 'human time' as Gabriel put it, that he wasn't sure he'd enough time to consider all of them.

"Given what you've been through with them, it makes sense."

Ellen enjoyed being human. She enjoyed the slow moving, the food, the physical encumbrances. The way she described being human made him want to be here longer.

"He told you it'd last a single human lifetime, yes?"

"He did."

"And you'll have a couple powers remaining?"

"Yes."

"Cas, if you ask my opinion, it's not a judgment punishment. It's a gift, given to you to see your attachment to Dean and Sam through to the natural conclusion if you so choose. One lifetime makes no sense otherwise. Why that unless there was some specific reason for it? The number of years would see them to their deaths and you through that and through time to know any children they'll have. It's the only thing that makes absolute sense to me." She sat up and turned, moving onto her knees to face him. "Think about it."

Could she be right?

He laid his legs flat and scooted up a bit more, readjusting the pillows behind his back. Her spin on the choices was not one he'd thought about previously. "Perhaps."

"And," Ellen scooted closer, knees beside his hip, "we've established that you like the layers of human friendship; that you know there's more to friendship you've yet to experience and would like to. You like the complexity of the emotions you've felt, though some continue to puzzle you. As with the friendship thing, there's plenty more to discover. Believe me, Cas, you haven't plumbed the depths there by any stretch."

"I _would_ feel much in the proposed mostly human state," he mused aloud. "I would eventually understand even more. I would…_get_ it."

"While we're on the subject of feeling things," she said, taking his face in her hands, "let me give you a final thing to feel and think about." Her thumbs caressed his cheeks. "Something more than friendship." Her mouth touched his, the kiss she gave him going beyond appealing and into seductive, his body responding to that pull, stirring in pleasant ways he was beginning to be quite familiar with.

Ellen broke the kiss before he was ready for it to end, lips nibbling along his jaw. His tie was pulled off, tossed away. Cas moved his hand, setting it beside her knee. Slowly, he touched her leg, squeezing, sliding his hand up to rest it at her waist. He liked how the curve of her waist felt under his hand.

"You thinking yet, sweetie?" Her voice had gone husky. She grasped his hand, maneuvering it beneath the fabric of her shirt so that he touched bare skin. Soft. Warm. Enticing.

"I…yes." He couldn't stop thinking -- of what this could lead to.

She reached for his shirtfront, undoing the buttons and parting the fabric, tugging the tails free from his pants. Eyes on his, Ellen used her fingertips to draw little circles across his abdomen.

It tickled.

He skimmed his fingers along her side, reached her bra and hesitated, gauging her reaction. In his mind was a picture of what he wanted to do, but would she let him? As if in answer to that wondering, her free hand returned to grasp his, moving it that last bit so that he was touching her breast.

Cas let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"That's where you want it, sweetie. Get a nice good feel, hmm," she whispered, then lowered her mouth to his chest, pressing slow kisses across and down, her tongue swirling against his skin. He wanted to close his eyes to savor the sensation, yet didn't want to look away at the same time. Ellen's hair spread across his skin.

His lips parted. "Oh…."

She reached the waist of his pants, slanted a mischievous look up at him, and began to kiss a path back to his mouth. With a final passionate meshing of lips and tongues, Ellen pulled away and slid his hand from her, leaving him wanting more kisses and touches.

"Why," he gulped, "did you stop?"

Ellen settled back beside him, maneuvering so that his arm was around her and she could rest her head against his shoulder. "Because you should be thinking, Cas, not doing. Not yet, anyway. Just think about what you felt a minute ago, really give it a good once or twice over." She raised a hand, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Sorry. I'm a little tired. Had a poker game last night going until about three and then I couldn't sleep long. I was awake at dawn."

He cupped her shoulder with his hand. She was human, she needed rest, and he did have thinking to do. "Can you sleep sitting up like this?"

"Not really, but I'm comfortable for the moment."

Brushing his cheek against her hair, he squeezed her shoulder. "You're lying."

"Perceptive." A laugh left her. "Yeah, I am. I've got to lie down, sweetie. For a few minutes." She tilted her head back a fraction, touched his jaw with her fingertips. "Stay?"

Castiel shifted position, sliding onto his back and drawing her down with him. "Go to sleep, Ellen," he told her. "Rest."

Ellen fell asleep quickly. She wasn't restless, lying as still against him as he himself could lie. He spent two hours in that position, reaching his decision far quicker than he'd thought he would after the sensory information she'd given him. There was even time to spare.

With the decision behind him, he felt lighter, relaxed, and even anxious for dawn to come so that he could find Gabriel.

He let his glance ring the room, attention falling to the dresser. There was a stack of five books there. A part of him wanted to get up and look at them, maybe read for awhile. He held off the urge for half an hour, until his curiosity with the stack of five books got the better of him. He eased away from her, careful not to wake her, then went to the dresser and began to look at each book. Three appeared to be of the romance variety Jo had told him Ellen liked. Two by Kathleen Woodiwiss (Shanna and A Rose in Winter) and one by Bertrice Small (Love Wild and Fair). The other two were fantasy novels. Moira J. Moore (Resenting the Hero) and Spider Robinson (Callahan's Lady).

With a glance at Ellen, he took the three romance novels to the table and sat in one chair. The blurb on the back of each book didn't tell him terribly much, so he chose A Rose in Winter and started reading. An hour later, he set that book down and returned to the dresser for Callahan's Lady. As he read the first couple chapters of it, his brows rose.

"Creative. Very creative." Dean would like this book, he decided, and kept on reading as Ellen slept.

The sky began to lighten.

Castiel set the book down and began to put his clothes in order. As he strove to knot the tie in a semi-decent manner, something he had trouble doing, Ellen woke, stretching and pushing herself to a sitting position.

"Cas?"

"Ellen. It's dawn."

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, taking a long drink from the water glass on the nightstand. "And?"

He didn't answer, instead pulling on his jacket and coat, watching her. Her curiosity and concern was reflected upon her face, quite easy to read.

Cas left to meet Gabriel.

* * *

Ellen opened her door, curious as to Castiel's decision and what would happen if he'd chosen to go with his brother. Would there be a flash of light, or anything in that case? Or would he just not be there anymore? He'd not told her which he'd chosen before leaving her room.

Across the street, she saw him materialize several paces from a man on one bench and walk the rest of the way to him.

She squinted. The man was Gabe.

Gabe? What the hell?

Her mind turned in furious circles over that. It was obvious Gabe was the one Cas was meeting, as there was no one else in the park. There wasn't even anyone else that she could see out and about on the road or in the parking lot. Gabe was his brother. Gabe.

Turning, Ellen reached for her shoes and slipped them on before heading across the street. Halfway there, Gabe disappeared and a lot of things suddenly made sense.

Gabe's timely appearances. His eerie knowledge of events that she and Jo had thought was psychic ability. She thought about everything Sam had told her the past couple days about angels and wondered how she and Jo had apparently rated a powerful angel checking in on them over the years.


	8. Act VI

Title: Lessons Lacking and Learned  
Summary: AU. Castiel has to make a decision regarding his future, while a misunderstanding between Dean and Jo puts him in an awkward position.  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: First: Hah! In under the wire of 2009! Whoo-hoo! Happy New Year everyone! Second: Thank you for reading and for your patience the past couple weeks! And many thanks to all who've taken the time to review! I appreciate your comments more than you can know. :-D

* * *

**Act VI:**

"Sam! Wake up!"

He opened one eye, discovered an agitated Dean lurking over him and weighed the options before deciding to open the other eye and find out what had induced this state. With a wide yawn, he rolled over and sat up. "What?"

"Gabriel's here," he hissed as he went to the curtains and peered out between the folds of the two panels.

"Yeah, I knew that. So?" In retrospect, perhaps sleepy nonchalance wasn't the best tone for his reply.

Dean whirled, eyes bugging. "What? You knew that trickster archangel asshole was here and you didn't say anything? What's the matter with you?"

"Dean, it's not a big deal. He's just here to see Cas." He yawned.

"So he says. I don't believe him. He's up to something." Dean's eyes narrowed. "He's always up to something."

"He's not." Sam rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"You know that for a fact?"

Not really, but if he admitted that, what were the chances of Dean letting him go back to sleep anytime soon? Sam needed sleep. He wanted to be refreshed when he saw Sarah again, not yawning with bags under his eyes. "He's not up to anything. The only reason he's hanging around is to see Cas, but since he knows Ellen and Jo anyway, I'm guessing he wanted to see them, too. You know, since they're _here_."

"You knew he knew them?" One brow slid up. "How long have you had this information and why didn't you share it with me earlier?"

"You were at dinner with Jo. He came up to the table while Ellen and I were having dessert. She greeted him like a long-lost friend. We chatted in an amiable, non-threatening, and casual manner, and when I spoke to him later, he assured me he meant us no harm."

"No harm? Are you nuts, Sammy? He always means us harm."

"Your paranoia is showing through again, Dean."

"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean _Gabriel_ isn't out to get me."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever. He said he wasn't going to hurt us."

"You believed him? Have you forgotten how many times he made you watch me die? The emotional turmoil he put us both through? And the tv land thing? That was a hoot. You remember that groin hit? The fun never stopped."

There was no way he was getting back to sleep, was there? "I believe him. Dean, he told me we'd never see him again." Raising a knee, he rested one elbow upon it. "Look, why don't you just go to bed and we'll deal with him in the morning if he's still here."

"Do you have any idea what he could do while we're unconscious?"

"The same things he could do while we're conscious. It's not like we can stop him."

His mouth opened for a few seconds, then closed. After a moment, he nodded. "You have a point. He could mess with us while we're asleep or awake."

"And has."

Dean sat down. "So it doesn't matter if I sleep for a few hours or not."

"Not really, no."

Within fifteen minutes, the lights were out. Sam was just about to drift off to sleep, when Dean's voice sounded again.

"You're _sure_ he's not up to anything?"

Sam sighed.

* * *

Gabriel was waiting on the bench where he'd delivered Castiel's options. Castiel approached and sat beside him. Gabriel started smirking before Cas had even fully sat.

"Walking, Castiel? Guess that means you've decided. You know, I'd hoped you'd choose the human experience. The sheer number of things you're going to learn before you come home is astounding. Many of us can't wait to hear about it. I'm already familiar with much of what you'll experience, but the others? Very curious."

Across the road, Ellen's door was open. Cas turned his attention away from her and onto Gabriel. "It's an odd punishment. The human experience. It sounds like a reality television program."

Gabriel laughed. "Funny, Castiel. That's funny. Hone that sense of humor. I think you'll do well with it once you learn how to use it."

"Why this? Why the choice? I wouldn't have been given the choice to stay before. I remember being yanked back when I got too close last time."

"While you disobeyed orders regarding Dean and end times, those orders weren't from God. Zachariah and others…. Enough of them. _You_ were right and wrong at the same time. Accept being human and experience it as fully as you can. More of us should have to in order to understand humans and the love God has for them." He shrugged. "And it'll give you a chance to see what happens to them before coming home. To Dean and Sam, I mean. You can interact with them, really dig into what being human is. Extensive studies."

He blinked. Ellen was right. Her understanding of the circumstances -- which he'd not even considered at all -- was correct.

"You'll have good days and bad days. It's normal. Even when I was hiding out, I had good and bad days. Don't worry about it. Since you've turned into something of a scholar, consider this a sociological experiment, if that helps." Gabriel snapped his fingers and stood, signaling the end of their time together. "There you go…Cas. Nice and mostly human." His brows rose. "See you in a lifetime."

When Gabriel was gone he'd have no further contact until it was his time to go home according to his sentence. He felt a desperate need to say something to makeGabriel stay longer, to keep this last link to his brethren somehow open. Castiel felt a sliver of fear for his future on earth, though he'd made this decision with as much information as he'd been able to cram into the time allotted to him.

I'll be alone, he thought. What am I doing? What have I _done_?

Gabriel shook his head. "You won't be alone," he said, going right to the center of his fear. "You have your human friends." His head turned, one hand indicating Ellen. "They mean more than you think."

He was gone then and the gray dreary dawn felt like an ominous omen until Ellen reached him.

* * *

"You're still here." If she was reading his expression right, he was scared shitless. His eyes were wide, breaths audible. In his lap, his hands were clenched into fists, one bunching the fabric of his coat.

Castiel looked up at her and said in a voice less than steady, "My decision was made. I saw no reason to keep him waiting."

"Gabe? He's your brother?"

"Gabriel," he corrected. "He's an archangel, one of the most powerful of angels. Yes, he's one of many brothers."

Ellen nodded. "You still have some powers like he said you would?"

"I'm mostly powerless save a couple remaining, committed to the human experience for approximately eighty years, give or take a few at heaven's discretion." His attention left her, gaze flitting back and forth along the road and buildings behind her, his fear evident also in the tilt of his brow and the clenching of his jaw. "I have remorse at my decision now that it's too late to change my mind. It'll eventually pass. I know it will. I've experienced this…sensation before. It will pass. It will." His deep breath shuddered his body, the words sounding much like an assurance he would repeat to himself over and over as the days went by. "I simply need to settle upon a further course of action and begin it."

"You've anxiety."

A laugh slipped from him, rusty sounding and little more than a gasp. "Anxiety. Yes."

"Then I'll just have to distract you until it passes." Bending, Ellen placed her hands on the bench back and kissed him. Not a sedate peck, but rather one of heated promise, like they'd shared back in the motel room. His response was hesitant at first, then warm as he began to relax. Ellen drew back a fraction. "I can be a pretty good distraction if I set my mind to it and if Jo and Dean's behavior is any indication how things are going on their end, I'm going to have plenty of free time for awhile."

The blue of his eyes was bright, the intense light there undimmed by his new human standing. "Would you be willing to distract me?"

"Say the word, honey."

Confusion glinted in his eyes for a few seconds, but then he blinked and cocked a brow at her. "The word."

Reaching down, she grasped his hands in hers and tugged. "You're a smartass in the making."

He stood. "I'm already smart," he pointed out. "And if I understand the use of the word 'ass' correctly in this case --"

"Cas?"

"Yes, Ellen?"

"Don't over think it. It's just a word."

* * *

He wanted to be distracted, to accept the diversion she was offering. Cas wanted to forget for a little while what he'd done. Ellen led him back to her room. While he could have taken them there in a single blink, he didn't. There was a sense of anticipation building inside him that he honestly didn't want to rush. Gabriel had said to experience being human as fully as he could. He may as well start immediately.

Ellen turned in the doorway, hands on the frame, her mischievous expression nearly identical to the one Jo had used. "Come on in, Cas. You're not afraid of little ole me, are you?"

"No," he replied, though it strangely came out like a question. Not how he'd intended to say it.

"You sure about that? You look a little nervous." She stepped in the motel room, crooking a finger in a 'come here' gesture. He'd imagined that very look on her face while looking through 'Cosmopolitan'.

With a glance left, right, and behind him, Castiel followed Ellen into her room and closed the door.

* * *

Dean needed to actually collect his winnings from Ellen and headed towards her room, certain she'd be awake. After all, it was nearly eleven in the morning. He knocked and waited.

Ellen answered the door in her robe. Not unusual in itself. It _was_ her room after all and so what if she'd slept in? She deserved to sleep in sometimes. "Hey, Ellen. Can I get that money from you? I promised Jo lunch at this place a couple towns over…." The unusual part dawned on Dean when he glanced behind her. His mouth dropped open.

Castiel was sprawled on the bed with a sheet tangled about him, presumably naked beneath it considering the amount of skin showing. He was staring at the ceiling, his mouth open, a shell-shocked expression on his face.

Amusement flickered in Ellen's eyes, but she didn't say anything, instead reaching for the bag on the chair beside the door and rifling through it.

Dean kept glancing from Ellen to Castiel, certain he wasn't seeing what he thought he was seeing.

Cas swallowed so hard it was audible and turned his head. "Dean?"

"Yeah? Hey…Cas." He raised one hand in an acknowledging wave.

"I had no idea," Cas replied in a solemn, yet fervent tone.

Ellen pressed a stack of bills to Dean's chest. "Here you go, sweetie, and a little extra. My treat for you two." She patted his cheek. "Oh, and don't worry about Cas. I'm taking real good care of him." With a final smug smile, Ellen shut the door. Dean remained standing there for a minute, processing what he'd just seen, then grinned and laughed to himself.

"Go Cas."

* * *

The human experience didn't have to be misery, Castiel decided, watching Ellen brush out her hair in slow strokes. He leaned back against the headboard, readjusting the sheet across his lap. He understood now what Gabriel had been getting at the previous morning. This punishment didn't have to be bleak. It didn't have to be agony. It didn't actually have to be a punishment. As long as he knew there was an end in sight, he thought he could do it. And as Gabriel pointed out, he wasn't going to be completely helpless. Or alone.

She set the brush aside and climbed on the bed to sit beside him. He put his arm around her, enjoying the feel of her hair brushing his skin. She didn't seem to mind what Dean referred to as his 'casual disregard for the God given right to personal space'.

"I should tell Dean I'm taking a two-week vacation?"

"Yes. Seeing as how he's probably got another three or four days before Jo gives in, I don't think he'll mind. He's going to want to concentrate on Jo and without any of us here, he can do that."

"And Sam is taking two weeks to visit Sarah Blake, the woman _he_ wants to concentrate on." Sam had made a bunch of plans with Sarah and as far as Castiel could tell, he'd yet to tell Dean any of them. But then, Cas had been out of that loop for quite a few hours now so that could have changed….

"Apparently, she's been trying to build on what she learned when Sam and Dean were out her way. If nothing romantic comes of it, she'll be another resource."

"I see." He nodded. Dean and Sam did have extra resources besides Bobby, many of them women he'd noticed. "I'm to meet you in two days in St. Louis."

"Unless you'd like to ride with me and keep me company on the way." Her hand slid across his chest in a slow caress.

"I could take us and you could leave your truck with Jo." Which sounded like a perfectly reasonable travel solution in his opinion, but Ellen was shaking her head as she snuggled closer.

She chuckled. "You really want to experience me thinking someone stole the truck because I don't remember immediately that I left it parked a couple states over? No. Besides, Jo hates driving it. Always has. She wouldn't use it. Trust me, Cas, she'd rather I take it."

He thought about the outing she'd proposed. It certainly sounded like an experience. "Are you sure I'll like the Screaming Eagle?"

Her hand moved down his chest. "It probably doesn't compare to the zipping around you do, but yeah…I think you'll like it. Jo likes us to stop and spend a couple days at the park when we're in the area in season. Roller coasters are a good de-stressor after what we usually deal with." Ellen sat up and turned to face him. "Which reminds me." She adjusted the sheet so that it covered less of him, shifting her shoulders so that the neckline of her robe parted in an enticingly teasing fashion. He couldn't help but look. "We'll need to get you a few casual things. Suits and Six Flags don't mix."

"What do you suggest?" Dean had been trying to get him into different clothes for a long time now. But then, Dean didn't have Ellen's persuasive techniques.

"Jeans, t-shirt," her hand lowered further and Cas swallowed with some difficulty, "maybe running shoes." She shrugged her brows. "I was thinking something in silk for relaxing after a long day. I noticed the perfect thing for you when we were at the store."

Yes, Ellen was very…persuasive.

* * *

While she'd said Jo wouldn't want the truck, Ellen decided to make sure, waiting until Dean had gone to his own room before knocking on her daughter's door. Once inside, she noted that the bed still wasn't fixed.

"What's up," Jo asked, opening a tube of mascara and leaning close to the mirror above the low dresser.

She decided not to waste time talking around the matter. "I'm taking off this afternoon."

Jo paused in the act of putting on mascara, gaze meeting Ellen's in the mirror. "Without me?"

"You don't need me here. You and Dean have better things to do than try to sneak kisses when I'm not looking. Or feels. Don't think I didn't see what he did while you were dancing last night."

She turned. "I told him you'd notice. He didn't believe me."

Ellen smiled. "It's a mom thing, Jo. Someday you'll get it." She sat on one chair. "Do you want the truck?"

"Drive that beast? No way. If I need a ride I'll get one."

She studied Jo with a careful eye. Her daughter was fairly glowing with happiness, a thing Ellen hadn't seen in a very long time, and it was due, she knew, to Dean's attention. Jo had always been very willing to let herself fall in love with Dean Winchester. As time had passed and Ellen got to know both the Winchester boys, she found she didn't mind that so much. Both were very dear to her now. "You know, Jo, I never wanted a hunter for you." She hurried on before Jo could misinterpret what she was trying to say. "But I already love Dean like a son --"

Jo held up a hand. "Mom, stop. We just started seeing each other. You're getting a little ahead of us."

She shrugged. "Just in case, is all I mean. He's already family to me no matter what happens between you." Ellen crossed her legs. "Anyway, I'm heading to St. Louis --"

"Taking Cas with you?"

"Why would you think that?" Her attempt at an innocent tone brought a rolling of Jo's eyes before she returned to her mascara.

"Dean told me what he saw."

"What did Dean say he saw?" It was a good sign in her opinion that Dean had shared that with Jo.

Jo's smirk was amused. "You in a robe and Cas wearing nothing but a strip of sheet."

"I like him," she admitted.

"A _tiny_ strip of sheet? I think that goes beyond like, mom. I think there's some greater interest there." Jo finished with her makeup and came to the chair Ellen sat in. "Admit it," she said with a teasing grin. "You're interested in angel boy."

"Do you mind? My interest in him, I mean."

"You've never asked if I minded before."

Ellen stood and put her hands on Jo's shoulders. "Your father was the love of my life. You know that, but…." She sighed. "I do like Cas, Jo. He's a whole different kind of man and I want to get to know him."

"I think he wants to get to know you, too."

"Sweetie, I know he does and I'm asking if you mind."

The humor slid from her face and she thought about the question a minute. "Dad's been gone a long time and I don't think he'd have really wanted you lonely. If you think there's a chance Castiel will make you happy, then I can't mind if you spend time with him. You're my mother. I want you happy."

"I thought you'd say that." Ellen cupped Jo's cheeks with her hands, "I love you, Jo," then enfolded her in a hug.

"Um…mom? You're acting all sappy. Why?"

She released her. "Just saying goodbye to my little girl," she shrugged, "and hello to my grown daughter. Call me in two weeks and we'll see where we all are."

"What do you mean --"

"Cas isn't the only one learning things here." While he'd been thinking things over, Ellen had been doing some thinking on her own. For so long, she'd been determined to save Jo from life and anything bad that could happen, but life happened regardless, didn't it? She'd seen that over and over when the Trickster…Gabriel…had trapped them. If she ever saw him again, he was getting a piece of her mind for all he'd put them through.

Jo wouldn't be able to ever live if Ellen didn't let her go. It hurt to do so. Jo was all she had left of Bill Harvelle, but she had to acknowledge her daughter was grown. "They cut him loose so he could learn about human life. I'm letting you go for the same reason."

Jo's brows rose. "You're cutting the apron strings? So soon? What brought this on?"

"I want you happy and I know that's the one thing you want most from me." Ellen gave her a final quick hug. "You find out if Dean's the man you want, Jo. I'll be there if you need me." She moved to the door. "But not for two weeks. For two weeks, that fine hunk of former angel is all mine."

* * *

They were all taking two weeks, by unanimous decision. Two weeks seemed to be the number fixed in all their minds, even Castiel's, which Dean found interesting. Why two weeks? What had determined the number?

He set Ellen's bag in the truck. She was taking an awful long time saying goodbye to Castiel, which firmed up in Dean's mind that the two weren't actually saying goodbye. Well, that and the twinkle in her eye that bordered on salacious whenever she looked at Cas. They were planning on meeting somewhere down the road. He wondered why they wouldn't just say it and go together.

"You come see me," Ellen said in a tone that made it clear it was an order no matter what their plans were.

Cas tugged the new tie she'd bought him loose a fraction. "Yes ma'am."

Dean exchanged a raised brows glance with Jo and Sam.

He seemed uncomfortable, yet at the same time highly pleased with himself.

"I mean it, Cas."

"I know you do, Ellen."

Raising up, she pressed a kiss to his lips, then pushed his hair from his brow, mussing it more than it already was. "Good boy."

When she'd gone, Cas looked at them. "We…have an understanding."

"Oh yeah," Jo said. "We got that part."

"Ellen has an intriguingly complex personality. I look forward to getting to know her better in the future."

"Was that her personality he was staring at, Sam?"

"Actually, Dean, I think it was her --"

"Enough!" Jo laughed. "That's my mom, guys!"

"Ellen Harvelle is…_very_ attractive," Cas interjected.

Dean laughed. "Right." He looked at Sam. "So, Sammy, how are you getting to that meeting with Sarah?"

Sam shrugged. "I thought I'd catch the bus. Or find a nice car to borrow somewhere near."

"You want to take the Impala?" He slid his hands in his pockets.

"And leave you without her for two weeks? Dean, the withdrawal will kill you."

"It's not like Jo and I plan on going anywhere. Most everything here is within walking distance. I think I can handle the withdrawal and if we want to go anywhere we'll borrow a car."

Sam's gaze was curious. "You mean it or are you screwing with me?"

He dug the keys from his pocket. "You bring her back. You don't, you die."

"Deal."

He had a twinge of misgiving as soon as he tossed the keys Sam's way, but swallowed it, looking down at the ground. Dean forced himself into line with his reasoning. It made sense, right? He and Jo wouldn't need the Impala. At all. It was okay for Sam to….

Nope. He couldn't do it.

Dean looked up to tell Sam he couldn't quite relinquish rights to the Impala for two weeks, but Sam was already maneuvering it from it's parking place. "That was fast," he muttered. When had Sam developed Cas's ability to teleport?

"Yeah, he sort of sprinted when you tossed him the keys." Jo's voice was amused. "Guess he was in a hurry."

"Okay. So it's just you, me, and…." He glanced around. Castiel was nowhere to be seen. He'd vanished without saying another word. Typical. "…not Cas."

"He did that disappearing thingy about the time Sam got to the car. My educated guess is that he's now with my mom in the truck."

"How quickly they desert me. Remind me to talk to Cas about a little word called 'goodbye'."

Jo laughed. "You and me, sweetheart. All alone. Whatever will we do with ourselves?"

He studied her. Her hair was doing that sexy flip over one eye and she brushed it back with two fingers. They were truly alone for the first time. No Sam, Ellen, Castiel, or possibility of interruption from anyone. Especially if he turned off his phone -- which he did. He was ready for this. He was.

Maybe there could be a happy future for him after all. He looked forward to finding out.

Stretching out a hand, Dean drew her close, grasping the curve of her waist. "Hey there."

She came willingly, placing her hands on his chest. "Hey."

"You're kind of cute."

"You're not so bad yourself."

They probably looked silly, standing there grinning at each other, but frankly, he didn't care. "What's say we check you out of your room and into mine?"

Her features slipped into a mock astonished expression. "Dean Winchester, are you suggesting we share a room?"

"I'm only thinking of your welfare. Could get lonely in a big room all by yourself. I'm volunteering to ease that loneliness. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

"Why, we might see each other naked."

"Are you implying that I may, in fact, have an ulterior motive behind this generous offer?" He slid his hands along her hips.

She nodded. "Oh yeah. I definitely believe there's some ulterior motive involved."

"I'm wounded."

"The truth hurts."

"Patch me up?"

The teasing light disappeared from her eyes, her hands raising to cup his face. "Yes."

Dean did the only thing he could think of to do right then.

He kissed her.

* * *

Gabriel watched them make their vacation plans and disperse to that end. He'd been ahead already to see the potential futures for all of them and was pleased by where they'd ended up. It wasn't like he'd pushed Jo and Ellen into the decisions they'd made. He'd simply given them more options over the years then they'd previously had. _They'd_ made the choices, every last one that had led them to him in Washington and then to those various points that had kept them from their deaths.

Time was ever fluid.

He'd looked at the two women and realized they were as fascinating as Dean and Sam. Gabriel had taken it on himself to do an experiment; to see if they'd always make the same decisions that had led to their deaths. They hadn't, the crucial one taking them from harms way.

Okay, taking them to Gabriel's immediate sphere of influence. Still, it was almost the same thing, right? Sure, he'd trapped them, made them both think about their relationship a bit and what really mattered to them the most, but he hadn't hurt them. He'd never put them in real danger. He'd helped them.

He was pleased by the outcome. All of it. Especially for Castiel. It was good for Castiel to experience the human things he was going to experience. And when he finally came home, Gabriel decided he wanted to get to know Castiel better.

Gabriel glanced heavenward, aware that his own time to return for good was nearing. Castiel wasn't the only one facing consequences. The things Gabriel himself had done sometimes weren't what Dean or Sam would call 'nice'. Nice hadn't entered into it. Justice had.

With a sigh, he leaned back against the bench and laid his arms along the back.

Even now, Castiel was trying to decide if he could bear the slow ride to spend more time with Ellen and choosing to do just that. He was already making the sorts of decisions that guaranteed he'd enjoy his human time. While he still had a long way to go, he'd understand much in time.

Even now, Sam was plugging in that iPod and smiling because Dean was trusting him with the Impala. It wasn't seeing Sarah that made him happy, but the knowledge that Dean was making progress in letting him grow-up. Of course it was only happening in degrees, but it _was_ happening.

Even now, Dean was scheming to get around Jo's three date pronouncement, though beneath the scheming was a willingness to go by her wishes. He was looking at her and picturing more. Dean wanted more. Already, he was thinking of a future with her.

Even now, Ellen was planning such a range of experiences for Castiel that he was going to be busy for months. She had plenty of ideas on things he needed to try. Castiel was going to be good for her. Ellen was ready to live for herself again. For years she'd been a wife, mother, business owner. The time had come for Ellen to be her own woman.

As for Jo…. Even now, she was thinking Dean Winchester was worth the wait. She might even waive that three date rule she'd put into effect. She wasn't going to, Gabriel knew, but she was thinking about it. Her mother hadn't raised a girl without self-respect and Dean would respect her or forget her. (Respect her.)

Gabriel glanced up again. It was time to leave. He looked around a final time…and was gone.

**The End **


End file.
